The latest in Hip-Hop legal woes is a case of copyright infringement against Akon, Swizz Beatz and Bone Thugs N Harmony. Songster, a music publishing company, filed a lawsuit Tuesday in a California courthouse claiming copyright infringement against the three. According to Songster, the three artists illegally sampled, “When The Day Will Come,” by the group Rasa. Traces of the song are found in Bone Thugs single, “I Tried,” which features Akon and is produced by Swizz Beatz. Also named in the lawsuit were Interscope Records, Sony A.T.V. Publishing, Universal Music Group and the Full Surface record label. The single was on Bone Thugs’ 2007 album, Strength and Loyalty.
In a surprising twist, Common was hit with a suit earlier this week for using the same song. According to court documents, Common sampled the song for his single “Take It EZ”. The single was featured on his 1992 debut album, Can I Borrow A Dollar. He is being sued by the songwriters Andrew Marks and London McDaniels.
