Ever since Sweet Brown’s uttered the words “Ain’t nobody got time for that,” she’s been an Internet star. Tons of people have made reference to her “Lord Jesus it’s a fire,” craziness, and now she’s firing back at Apple for using her image without paying up.
Brown, real name, Kimberly Wilkins, filed suit targeting the tech giant’s iTunes imprint for putting up a song that samples her voice, and not sending her a check.
Business Insider reports:
Sweet Brown is suing Apple, a radio program called The Bob Rivers Show, and a handful of other parties for unauthorized use of her likeness, according to court documents.
The basis of the lawsuit stems from a song called “I Got Bronchitis.” The Bob Rivers Show, according to Sweet Brown’s complaint, produced the song with samples from Wilkins’ interview with the local TV-news station. The song sampled phrases like, “Ain’t nobody got time for that,” “Ran for my life,” and “Oh, Lord Jesus it’s a fire.”
The suit claims that in April 2012, the defendants started selling the song on iTunes for profit. It also claims the radio program and its owner falsely advertised that Sweet Brown had given her consent for the radio station to use her voice and likeness in the song.
Filed last June in the District Court of Oklahoma County, the suit has been moved to the United States District Court for the Western District of Oklahoma. In addition to attempting to recoup a massive amount of money in damages, Brown is having to represent herself since both her lawyers petitioned to be removed from the case. Her co-defendant, and alleged manager, Sparkle Adams, will represent herself as well.
Another issue plaguing her fight is the fact that Apple removed the song, and thanks to the Digital Millennium Copyright Act–which protects companies from similar lawsuits so long as the content in questions is taken down expeditiously–they may not be legally required to give her anything.
So it looks like Sweet Brown might want to stick to depending on TV appearances and local commercials to generate income.
View the song in questions below.
.
