Dear All, <br>The irony of it all:<br>1989: 2 Live Crew samples Roy Orbison's "Oh, Pretty Woman" in their song "Pretty Woman", and intends it as a parody. The publisher, Acuff-Rose Music, which has rights over the song does not agree to their pre-release offer of payment of licensing fee and crediting the song's writers.
<DEFANGED_span class="main">Having gone ahead, they found themselves in the US Supreme Court, where they eventually won the case, having shown that their version was actually a parody of the original -- that the song "</DEFANGED_span>
<DEFANGED_span class="main">reasonably could be perceived as commenting on the original or criticizing it to some degree,"</DEFANGED_span><DEFANGED_span class="main"> -- and being the first instance of "fair use" being used for a case of sampling.
<br></DEFANGED_span><DEFANGED_span><br></DEFANGED_span>2006: The frontman of 2 Live Crew (Luther Campbell) (actually Richard C. Wolfe for Lil' Joe Wein Music) is sues 50 Cent for having ripped off the lyrics for "In Da Club" (and another song) from his 1994 song "It's Your Birthday". Perhaps this is another case of the artist himself not having a problem, and only the record company wanting its money (like the Negativland vs. U2 case).
<br><br>Also, check out <a href="http://www.illegal-art.org/">http://www.illegal-art.org/</a>, which amongst other things, has a section with information about copyrights cases in the audio industry.<br><br><br>From Yahoo! News:
<br>----------------------------------<br><em class="timedate">Fri Jan 20, 6:58 PM ET</em>
<p>
MIAMI - Rapper 50 Cent stole the opening line for his 2003 hit "In Da
Club" from a song by former 2 Live Crew frontman Luther Campbell, an
attorney claims in a lawsuit.
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</noscript></DEFANGED_div><p>Richard C. Wolfe filed the copyright infringement lawsuit against <DEFANGED_span class="yqlink">
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<a href="http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Curtis+James" DEFANGED_onclick="activateYQinl(this);return false;" class="yqimgins" title="Related information on Curtis James">Curtis James</a></DEFANGED_span> Jackson, aka 50 Cent, in Miami federal court last week on behalf of Lil' Joe Wein Music.
</p>
<p>50 Cent only changed one word from the opening line of Campbell's
song from "It's Your Birthday," Wolfe said — after repeating the word
"go" several times, "Sheila" becomes "shorty" in the line, "Go shorty,
it's your birthday."</p>
<p>Campbell's song appeared on his 1994 solo album "Still a Freak for Life."</p>
<p>"It's the melody, it's the pace, the style — everything about that
one line is the same," Wolfe said. "We're entitled to a portion of the
profits."</p>
<p>Messages left Friday for Campbell and for 50 Cent's publicist, Dennis Dennehy, weren't immediately returned.</p>
<p>Lil' Joe Wein Music holds the copyright to "It's Your Birthday" and
other songs Campbell produced with his rap group 2 Live Crew and as a
solo artist. Lil' Joe Wein Music is owned by Joseph Weinberger, an
attorney who formerly represented Campbell.</p>
<p>Campbell's song "I Like It, I love It" can also be heard on the 2003 DVD "50 Cent — The New Breed," the lawsuit claims.</p>
<p>The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages in addition to attorneys' fees and other legal costs.</p>
<p>Wolfe won a $2.3 million judgment against Campbell in 1994 for another rapper who claimed Campbell withheld royalties.</p><p>-------------------------<br></p><DEFANGED_span><br>Cheers,<br>Pranesh<br><br>-- </DEFANGED_span><br>______________
<br>------------<br>We are unhappy married, and unhappy unmarried. We are unhappy when alone, and unhappy in society: we are like hedge-hogs clustering together for warmth, uncomfortable when too closely packed, and yet miserable when kept apart. It is all very funny... the life of every individual is really always a tragedy; but gone through it in detail it has the character of a comedy.
<br><br>--Arthur Schopenhauer [1788 - 1860], German philosopher<br>------------<br>______________<br><br>ô¿ô¬<br>the solipsist