Travis Scott is asking a federal judge to end a lawsuit accusing him of using unlicensed samples in songs from Utopia and Astrocosm, arguing that no one can claim copyright on the words “okay, okay, okay.”
The case was filed in February by Dion Norman and Derrick Ordogne, who claim Scott and Sony Music illegally borrowed a portion of their song “Bitches Reply” — a 1992 track frequently used by Lil Wayne, Cardi B , Kid. Cudi and others.
However, in a motion to dismiss the case filed on Monday (June 3), lawyers for Scott and Sony argue that the allegations centered on the “baseless” claim of ownership of key words — “okay, okay, okay” — that everyone should be free to use.
“The only alleged copyright infringement here is the alleged copying of the word 'okay,'” the star's lawyers write. “But the single word 'okay' and the short phrase 'okay, okay, okay' lack even the minimal creativity required for copyright protection, both because these lines are so short and because they are ordinary expressions.”
Released in 1992 by DJ Jimi, “Bitches Reply” has reportedly been sampled or mixed into dozens of songs, including tracks by Megan Thee Stallion, Drake and OutKast. Most of these samples came from a staccato burst of the word “okay” shouted nine times at the beginning of the song.
Norman and Ordogne, who say they co-wrote DJ Jimi's song and own the copyright, claimed in their February lawsuit that Scott sampled that part of the track twice — first on his 2018 song “Stargazing.” from Astrocosm album, and again on his 2023 “Til Further Notice.” Utopia.
But copyright law only protects “original” works, and that usually doesn't include short phrases that are already widely used. In Monday's response filing, Scott's lawyers say the repetition of a common word like “alright” in song lyrics was just that — too “trivial” and “cliché” to meet the basic requirements of copyright law.
They cite several other songs that had the phrase before “Bitches Reply” was even released, including The Beatles' “Revolution,” Elton John's “Saturday Night's Alright,” and Earth, Wind & Fire's “Let's Groove.” They also cite a 2003 ruling in which a federal judge ruled that T-Pain's “Put It Down” did not infringe copyright by using phrases like “can't get enough” and “put your hands in the air.”
“Copyright law does not protect 'stock' expressions,” Scott's lawyers write. “Because the alleged infringement of the phrase “OK, OK, OK'' is too common to be copyrightable, plaintiffs' copyright infringement claims must be dismissed.”
Monday's motion also made several other attacks on Norman and Ordogne's lawsuit, including that they failed to prove they own the proper copyright registrations and filed the “Stargazing” claims beyond the statute of limitations.
An attorney for Norman and Ordogne did not immediately return a request for comment. Their lawyers may file a formal response to Scott's motion in the coming weeks.
from our partners at https://www.billboard.com/pro/travis-scott-alright-alright-alright-copyrighted/
