Musicians Whose Music Landed Them In Court - Page 3

The concept of free speech sounds all well and good until you’re standing in front of a judge or paying for legal fees in a civil suit. And between fair use sampling laws and prosecutors trying to use lyrics as court evidence, rappers often find themselves in legal hot water over such matters.

photo: WENN

Such is the case with former LMFAO member Redfoo, as Rick Ross is currently taking him to court. Hit the jump and see Redfoo’s esteemed company in this list of musicians whose music landed them in court.

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Photo: WENN

photo: WENN

Eminem

Former ringtone rappers Hot Stylz might have the legal grounds to bring the Rap God down to Earth with us mortals. Eminem repeated some lines from the 2008 single “Lookin’ Boy” on his 2014 single “Rap God,” and if his camp didn’t go through the proper legal channels, someone’s going to cut a check.

photo: WENN

DJ Quik and Dr. Dre

When we finally got the Compton super powers to unite, it ended in a lawsuit. Bappi Lahiri initially attempted to sue Dr. Dre, Truth Hurts, and Universal Music for $500 million after DJ Quik sampled the Hindi song “Thoda Resham Lagta Hai” for Truth Hurts’ 2002 hit single, “So Addictive.”

photo: WENN

Beyonce, Jay Z, and Timbaland

In December of 2014, Hungarian Folk singer Monika Miczura Juhasz (aka Mitsou) filed a civil suit against Timbaland, Beyonce, and Jay Z for allegedly sampling her song “”Bajba, Bajba Pélem” without permission on “Drunk In Love.” If it holds up, that foreign, high-pitched sound you hear at the beginning of “Drunk In Love” could end up costing a lot of bread.

Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke

Skateboard P and Robin Thicke are stuck in a nasty legal back and forth with Marvin Gaye’s estate for the 2013 hit single “Blurred Lines.” The crux of the argument is whether or not Pharrell blatantly jacked Marvin Gaye or if Gaye’s estate can trademark “a groove.”

Tiny Doo

Noting funny about this one. In what sounds like an affront to First Amendment enthusiasts everywhere, a California prosecutor is attempting to slap rapper Tiny Doo with up to 25 years due to an obscure gang conspiracy law. The prosecution is trying to use Tiny Doo’s lyrics to prove the rapper knowingly participated in and promoted, and benefited from criminal gang activity.

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2 Live Crew

We got as close to a clear and concise definition of obscenity as we’ll probably get thanks to Luther Campbell and 2 Live Crew. Not only did they duck the absurd obscenity charge for 1989’s “Pretty Woman,” the set a precedent for fair use by flipping a Roy Orbison sample.

Vonte “Real Threat” Skinner

He comes across as a garden variety struggle rapper, but Skinner’s case in New Jersey Supreme Court likely set a precedent against using rapper’s lyrics against them in court. Skinner was accused of killing a local drug dealer based on his book of rhymes, but in an August 2014 ruling, Justice Jaynee LaVecchia essentially said rhymes are inadmissible as evidence of guilt without a “strong nexus” to the crime.

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Notorious B.I.G.

Some 17 years after Biggie’s death, his estate is wrangling back and forth with the writers of the 1974 Leroy Hutson song “Can’t Say Enough About Mom.” Hutson and his co-writer are looking for additional royalties since their song was sampled for the Notorious B.I.G. and Method Man duet, “The What.” Biggie’s estate preemptively sued for declaratory relief.

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Pitbull

Lindsay Lohan tried to sue Pitbull for taking what appeared to be a playful shot at her on the song “Give Me Everything.” He mentioned the fact that Lohan had been locked up, but a New York District Judge threw out the lawsuit and then fined Lohan’s lawyer $750 for plagiarizing court briefs.

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2Pac

Delores Tucker’s $10 million defamation lawsuit against the state of Tupac Shakur was ultimately thrown dismissed by a judge. ‘Pac had no love for Tucker and called her out on his 1996 hit “How Do U Want It.” It was one of a few intense back and forth battles between Tucker and Death Row.

photo: WENN

RedFoo

In a case of the pot clearly calling the kettle black, Rick Ross is taking former LMFAO rapper Redfoo to court for interpolating his “Everyday I’m hustling” line and flipping it into “Everyday I’m shuffling” on LMFAO’s “Party Rock Anthem.” The hilarity here is that Ross stole his name and drug dealing identity from someone else.

photo: WENN

Biz Markie

After initially refusing to clear the sample for Biz Markie’s “Alone Again,” Gilbert O’Sullivan successfully sued Biz for $250,000 in damages in 1991. That’s the reason Biz’s subsequent album was named All Samples Cleared, and it’s also why you either clear samples ahead of time of cough up a portion of your publishing to the original musician. Or you can just distort the sample so much that nobody ever finds out what you sampled.