Pitbull Sued $3M For Copyright Infringement On “Timber”
Written by
Trent Clark
Published on
June 23, 2014
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Pitbull has attracted some legal attention under the strenuous penal code of mo money, mo problems. This time, the target of his money comes courtesy of the creators of a 70s recording who say they have not been paid any royalties for Pitbull’s Billboard chart-topping hit, “Timber” (featuring Ke$ha).
According to NYDailyNews, Lee Oskar, Keri Oskar and Greg Errico filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in Manhattan Federal Court last Friday, June 20, allegedly the “Timber” tune borrows its harmonica vibe from their 1978 song “San Francisco Bay.”
The suit states that “Timber’s” harmonica player Paul Harrington was instructed to emulate Oskar’s performance on “San Francisco Bay” and the infringing record makes “copious use” of the original melody and harmonica riff.
Released in October 2013, “Timber” has sold four million copies in the United States alone and spent three weeks at the #1 spot on the Billboard 100.
The Oskar brothers and Errico are asking for $3 million in damages. Sony stated that their company does not comment on legal matters even with the suit accusing them of getting a license for the song that didn’t come from the songwriters.
Listen to the “Timber” audio below for reference and flip to the next page to hear “San Francisco Bay.”
