Nicki Minaj pays Tracy Chapman $450,000 after copyright case
Pre-Advanced Rapper Nicki Minaj will pay singer Tracy Chapman $450,000 (£332,000) to settle a copyright dispute after sampling one of her songs. Chapman sued Minaj in 2018, saying she had used portions of Baby, Can I Hold You Tonight in her song Sorry.
Although the song was never released, a leaked version made its way to radio DJ Funkmaster Flex and went viral online. Chapman accused Minaj of sharing the song with Flex, although both have denied that version of events.
Minaj wrote Sorry with fellow rapper Nas while recording her fourth album Queen in 2018. It was based on a sample of the dancehall track Sorry by Jamaican artist Shelly Thunder. Unbeknownst to Minaj, that song was based on Baby, Can I Hold You Tonight, from Chapman’s Grammy-winning 1988 debut album.
After discovering the connection, Minaj and her record label sought permission to use Chapman’s composition, but the singer-songwriter repeatedly refused. The singer’s lawyer said she has a blanket policy against granting such permission. One of the clearance specialists working for Minaj was also said to have known Chapman was on an unofficial “do not sample” list.
In an earlier judgement, US District Judge Virginia A Phillips ruled that Minaj’s experimentation with Chapman’s song in the studio constituted “fair use”. In doing so, she sided with the rapper’s lawyers, who argued that artists need to be free to sample music while writing and recording, without worrying about being sued once they approach the rights-holder for a licence.
Judge Phillips agreed that “a ruling uprooting these common practices would limit creativity and stifle innovation within the music industry”. She added that there was “no evidence” that Minaj’s song “usurps any potential market for Chapman” and her original song, a searingly personal guitar ballad.
However, the judge set up a trial to explore how Sorry came to be leaked and distributed, and whether that constituted copyright infringement.
That trial will no longer take place after Chapman accepted Minaj’s offer. The settlement includes Chapman’s costs and legal fees to date, according to documents made public by the California Central District Court.
Today's Vocabulary
1. dispute (n)
an argument or disagreement, especially an official one between, for example, workers and employers or two countries with a common border
2. searingly (adv)
in a very powerful and emotional way
3. infringement (n)
an action that breaks a rule, law, etc
4. trial (n)
the hearing of statements and showing of objects, etc. in a law court to judge if a person is guilty of a crime or to decide a case or a legal matter
5. record (n)
a flat plastic disk on which music is recorded
6. licence (n)
an official document from the government, court, etc. that gives you permission to do, have, or own something
7. leaked (v)
to allow secret information to become generally known
QUESTIONS
- Who will Nicki Minaj pay for a copyright dispute?
- What was the title of the song on Chapman’s Grammy-winning 1988 debut album?
- Who is Virginia A . Phillips ?
- How much will the settlement fee be?
- Who is Shelly Thunder?
DISCUSSION
- Do you think copyright laws are fair?
- In general, patents last for 20 years in the United States, Europe, Canada, and many other countries worldwide. What are the advantages and disadvantages to having a 20-year patent term?
- Is piracy the same as theft?
- Have you ever broken copyright rules?
