The Black Eyed Peas and Daddy Yankee are facing a lawsuit over claims they illegally sampled the classic '90s song “Scatman (Ski-Ba-Bop-Ba-Dop-Bop)” — a case that claims the artists “simply lied” to “avoid to pay higher license fees.”
In a lawsuit filed March 8, the company that owns the rights to “Scatman” accuses will.i.am (William Adams), Daddy Yankee (Luis Ayala Rodríguez) and others of “clear copyright infringement” for using of Scatman JohnThe 1995 hit track to their own 2022 song “Bailar Contigo”.
The current owners of 'Scatman' (Iceberg Records AS) claim to have granted a 'limited licence' allowing the superstars to use the underlying written music, but have expressly warned that a license to actually sample the recording would cost more. The suit alleges that the artists agreed to these terms, but that “their assurances turned out to be shams.”
“After comparing the tracks, it is apparent that the derivative work and the song are so strikingly similar that the defendants used the recording of the song and not just the composition, as agreed,” Iceberg's lawyers write in their lawsuit. “The defendants simply lied to the plaintiff that they did not use the recording to avoid paying a larger license fee.”
The new case highlights the distinction between sampling (using an actual recording of an artist's performance) and jamming (using the same music but repeated by the new artists). Sampling licenses require payment to the owners and copyrights of both the master and the publisher of a particular song, and therefore usually cost more than jamming licenses.
In the case of “Scatman” and “Bailar Contigo”, Iceberg claims to have signed an interference deal with the Black Eyed Peas and Daddy Yankee in October 2022 in exchange for 75% of the publishing rights to the new song and a 5% income. stream from the new recording. But Iceberg, which also owns the song's master, says the contract “made clear” that the deal was not a sample deal.
“Rights in the recording of the original work (the so-called master rights) are not subject to this approval and require a separate license,” the 2022 agreement reportedly read.
But when the song was released in November 2022, Iceberg's lawyers say it apparently included a sample, not just an interpolation: “Although it appears that the defendants attempted to slightly manipulate the recording to conceal their infringement, the work remains so strikingly similar to the song that could not have been created without the use of the recording of the song.”
Representatives for both the Black Eyed Peas and Daddy Yankee did not immediately return requests for comment on the allegations. In addition to naming will.i.am as a defendant, the lawsuit also names Black Eyed Peas members apl.de.ap (Allen Pineda Lindo) and Taboo (Jaime Luis Gomez). He did not name Fergie, who left the group in 2018.
Faced with only being able to secure a jam deal and not a definitive sample license, artists sometimes re-record a song in ways that sound very similar to the original recording. But this practice can ruffle feathers with master owners and has led to disputes in the past.
Last year, Rick Astley filed a high-profile lawsuit against Yung Gravy over the rapper's 2022 hit that borrowed heavily from the singer's iconic “Never Gonna Give You Up,” claiming the new track — an interjection that sounded too much like absolute specimen — he broke the law by impersonating Astley's voice. In that case, Gravy deleted the underlying music (which Astley does not own) but was unable to secure permission to sample the master.
The lawsuit, which was based on Astley's rights to the likeness, raised big questions about songs that sounded similar and sampled, but the dispute was settled on confidential terms in September.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/business/legal/black-eyed-peas-daddy-yankee-lawsuit-over-scatman-sample-copyright-1235634316/