Nicki minaj warns experimentation at stake in tracy chapman copyright suit

[BUtterfield 8 41,411]

On Aug. 10, 2018, Nicki Minaj released her album, Queen. But something was missing from the musician's collection of new songs. That day, she sent a private message on her Instagram account to Funkmaster Flex, who had a popular radio show in New York. Together, the two made plans to debut a song that wasn't on the album. That song, "Sorry," is now the subject of a legal dispute that Minaj's attorney told a court on Monday "will have a significant impact on the music recording industry, one way or the other."

Tracy Chapman, a hugely successful singer-songwriter, is suing Minaj (real name: Onika Maraj) for allegedly infringing her own work, "Baby Can I Hold You." Both sides have filed summary judgment papers. And in Chapman's view, this is an easy case. Minaj's actions were "indisputably willful," states plaintiff's motion seeking a win.

The legal dispute between Chapman and Minaj is a bit different from most copyright cases where litigants quarrel over whether works are substantially similar. Here, there appears to be no controversy that "Sorry" emanates from "Baby Can I Hold You," nor much discussion about whether Chapman's work is actually original enough to merit protection. But that doesn't end matters.

When "Sorry" was selected for inclusion on Queen, Minaj and her reps sought a license to Chapman's composition. One of the clearance specialists put on the task is said to have known that Chapman was on the “do not sample list”—an unwritten list of artists that were well-known for not allowing samples of their works. Minaj's team made efforts anyway, but Chapman rejected a request. Minaj persisted, and social media, she vented. 
 

The song was played, and the New York radio station posted a link on its Instagram page. It traveled widely on the Internet as Chapman kept issuing DMCA takedown notices.

Instead, the defendant is focused on whether there's any copyright infringement from the creation of the demo recording. The starting point for the summary judgment motion is how recording artists go into the studio to experiment.

"n the process of creation, no one approaches the original songwriter (the 'rights holder') for a license to experiment," states Minaj's court brief. "The musicians just experiment. If something works, and the recording artist wants to release the song commercially, then the record label, managers, and attorneys get involved and seek the required permission. If it is granted, the recording is commercially released. If permission is denied, the recording is discarded; no one is harmed; and the experimentation begins anew. Recording artists require this freedom to experiment, and rights holders appreciate the protocol as well. Often, the rights holder does not want to simply approve a use in the abstract – i.e., 'any hip hop version of your song.' The rights holder wants to hear the actual version before giving her permission."

"The plaintiff here, Tracy Chapman, wants to turn this process on its head," continues George.

It's argued that U.S. District Court Judge Virginia Phillips should decide that her demo recording of "Sorry" made fair use of copyright because it was basically pure of purpose. As the brief puts it, "Indeed, creativity would be stifled, were artists required [to] seek and pay for a license before even experimenting with a work,"

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/thr-esq/nicki-minaj-warns-experimentation-at-stake-in-tracy-chapman-copyright-suit?utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter

[SLAG 7]

Incoming hate train. Also, I've never heard the song.

[Twitter 14]

1 minute ago, SLAG said:

Incoming hate train.

This! 

[DC 25,164]

Just now, Twitter said:

This! 

You BETTER protect your app!!! 

[monketsharona 81,218]

Totally on Tracy Chapman's side. Why Nicki had to insist that much when Tracy just didn't wanted her work to be sampled ? Girl just move on and don't release the song.

 

[HeavyMetalLover 16]

Why/how did the song get leaked though? That’s where they messed up.  And Nicki’s team isn’t even acknowledging that in their statement.

[HoneyB 27,926]

This sounds messy. Anyways lemme go look for the leak

[Teletubby 149,474]

[weed 73,835]

Come thru Tracy!

[Ronnie 6,008]

Oh wow! This is huge!

Requiring a license before even messing around with a song in the studio? This will definitely change the music industry.

[JazzGa 14,621]

I think this whole case will depend on whether or not Sorry is considered a track that's been "commercially released" or not. It didn't get included on the album  but it did get endorsed and promoted by Nicki officially. Was it for sale anywhere?

[Lord Temptation 11,209]

Who would have thought that someone who actively supports rapists, homophobes and pedophiles could be capable of this type of behaviour 

[Doot 2]

Giving me flashbacks to Anaconda and Sir Mix A Lot said he hates her version. 

[PartySick 160,208]

If Nicki didn't release the song or profit off of it then what's the issue?

I guess the real question is does the "do not sample" thing pertain to just released/published stuff or to everything, even demos that weren't meant to be heard by the public

If it's the former then Nicki's won. If it's the latter then Tracy won.

Maybe she should avoid sampling people who don't want to be sampled regardless though  it can't be that hard to replicate a song's groove if you're trying to work out something over it.

[HeavyMetalLover 16]

3 minutes ago, Doot said:

Giving me flashbacks to Anaconda and Sir Mix A Lot said he hates her version. 

We know he was boppin that b*ssy to it