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George Clinton Sues The Black Eyed Peas Over Sample
December 14, 2010
George Clinton has filed a copyright lawsuit against members of the Black Eyed Peas, their Universal Music Group label and Cherry Lane music publisher for allegedly sampling his song "(Not Just) Knee Deep" on a Grammy-award nominated album.
According to the complaint, filed on Friday in U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, the funk pioneer's song wound up in remixes of the Black Eyed Peas' "Shut Up," first released in 2003.
Clinton's original song appeared on Funkadelic's 1979 album Uncle Jam Wants You and ran more than 15 minutes long.
An edited version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Black Singles chart, besting Michael Jackson's first solo hit. "(Not Just) Knee Deep" was later sampled by artists such as De La Soul, LL Cool J, MC Hammer, Snoop Dogg, and 2Pac.
Clinton has become more aggressive on the copyright front in past years with several cases involving his intellectual property.
He's enjoyed some success in court, getting a judge to acknowledge his ownership in the legendary phrase, "Bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay" and winning a ruling that record labels violated his rights by re-releasing four of his 1970s albums.
These victories seem to be emboldening him on the legal front.
He's now going after sampling, a music technique that's technically illegal from a copyright standpoint (depending on the nature of the use), but also something that is rarely pursued. Most musicians try to clear samples anyway, but violators have often been given a free pass.
According to the complaint, Clinton became aware of the Black Eyed Peas' use of his old song when a record producer for the band came to him in 1999 and requested a license for a new remix of "Shut Up."
Clinton says he rejected the request, not knowing at the time that his song had already been sampled by the band in a prior version. He says the sample was used by the Peas anyway on the album The E.N.D, which was nominated in 2009 for a an album of the year Grammy.
Clinton is seeking maximum statutory damages of $150,000 per infringement and an injunction prohibiting further distribution of the infringing song.
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Take those fools to the docks Clinton...You rock! Keenmeister |
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Clinton's original song appeared on Funkadelic's 1979 album Uncle Jam Wants You and ran more than 15 minutes long.
An edited version reached No. 1 on the Billboard Black Singles chart, besting Michael Jackson's first solo hit.
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After all these years,some people still think that "Don't Stop Til You Get Enough" was Michael's first solo hit.
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i sometimes sing "Bow wow wow yippie yo yippie yay" and it seems most of the time people thing it is snoop dog... "Keep on shilling for Big Pharm!" |
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Right on! I hate the BEP. | |
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but that's Atmoic Dog and not Knee Deep Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy! | |
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yeah I know... but that case was also mentioned in the article "Keep on shilling for Big Pharm!" |
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oh... well, I stopped reading at Black Eyed Peas Vanglorious... this is protected by the red, the black, and the green. With a key... sissy! | |
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Bout damn time George sues somebody | |
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Folks have been using his songs for years.
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where is that folding chair!? "Keep on shilling for Big Pharm!" |
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i bet it has more to do with respect than the money. "Keep on shilling for Big Pharm!" |
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Even more of a reason to sue | |
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Get that money, Dr. Funkenstein! [Edited 12/14/10 10:13am] | |
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^ Sir Noze ^
Bootsy is Starchild | |
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Oh yeah THAT'S RIGHT... maybe I should've said "Uncle Jam" or "Dr. Funkenstein". | |
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Will.I.Am cleared "Not Just Knee Deep" on a 2006 song for Kelis "What's That Right Here". He samples often and always clears them, so I wouldn't be surprised if someone else did the remix of Shut Up or something. | |
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Someone probably rushed it out and didn't think no one would notice. Too bad. | |
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Why are poeple still sampling this goddamn song?? GC has like a thousand songs to choose from and it's always the same damn one. Soooo lazy. "Keep in mind that I'm an artist...and I'm sensitive about my shit."--E. Badu | |
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That's how music is now: sampling the same damn song until they milk the damn udders out of that motherfucker. | |
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N.W.A. Public Enemy Ice Cube Dr.Dre Eazy-E M.C. Ren Snoop Dogg Yo-Yo Guy Blackstreet M.C. Hammer De La Soul Salt-N-Pepa New Kids On The Block/NKOTB Bell Biv Devoe The Spice Girls Digital Underground En Vogue 2pac Prince/ Spice-1 Too $hort
...........and shitloads of other artists from the world of rap/hip-hop & electronic dance sub-genres that are NOT accounted for like they need to be!
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If James was still alive, he would've been suing those folks too. | |
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Like Funky Drummer, Amen Brother, Stay With Me, In The Air Tonight, and Between The Sheets. I recall Jackie Jackson yelling "Can You Feel It!" from the Jacksons live album being used a lot too. You can take a black guy to Nashville from right out of the cotton fields with bib overalls, and they will call him R&B. You can take a white guy in a pin-stripe suit who’s never seen a cotton field, and they will call him country. ~ O. B. McClinton | |
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It amuses me greatly to imagine George going to court to fight for legal ownership of this phrase. "Not everything that is faced can be changed; but nothing can be changed until it is faced." - James Baldwin | |
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That there's never been a TV movie about the case is surely an opportunity missed.
How many times as a producer did he alone replay the Knee Deep bassline? | |
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There, THAT^ is more honest! | |
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Yeah, this is def a first.
Good for him, bout time her attempted to take control of his catalog even if he don't own his masters,,,,,which I hope he will someday. | |
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Did George not get paid by any of these artists for sampling his music and borrowing **cough** stealing his lyrics?
I HATE BEP! | |
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