[Commons-Law] 2 Live Crew frontman vs. 50 Cent

[sol]

Dear All,
The irony of it all:
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.  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 "reasonably could be perceived as
commenting on the original or criticizing it to some degree," -- and being
the first instance of "fair use" being used for a case of sampling.

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).

Also, check out http://www.illegal-art.org/, which amongst other things, has
a section with information about copyrights cases in the audio industry.


From Yahoo! News:
----------------------------------
*Fri Jan 20, 6:58 PM ET*

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.
ADVERTISEMENT
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Richard C. Wolfe filed the copyright infringement lawsuit against    Curtis
James <http://search.news.yahoo.com/search/news/?p=Curtis+James> Jackson,
aka 50 Cent, in Miami federal court last week on behalf of Lil' Joe Wein
Music.

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."

Campbell's song appeared on his 1994 solo album "Still a Freak for Life."

"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."

Messages left Friday for Campbell and for 50 Cent's publicist, Dennis
Dennehy, weren't immediately returned.

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.

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.

The lawsuit seeks unspecified damages in addition to attorneys' fees and
other legal costs.

Wolfe won a $2.3 million judgment against Campbell in 1994 for another
rapper who claimed Campbell withheld royalties.

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Cheers,
Pranesh

--
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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.

--Arthur Schopenhauer [1788 - 1860], German philosopher
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ô¿ô¬
the solipsist
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