via Wikipedia

On March 24, 2006, Bridgeport Music and Westbound Records won a federal lawsuit against Bad Boy Records for copyright infringement, with a jury deciding that Combs and Bad Boy had illegally used samples for the production of the songs "Ready to Die", "Machine Gun Funk", and "Gimme the Loot".^[5][6] The jury awarded $4.2 million in punitive and direct damages to the two plaintiffs, and federal judge Todd Campbell enacted an immediate sales ban on the album and tracks in question.^[6] On appeal, the Sixth Circuit found the damages unconstitutionally high and in violation of due process and remanded the case, at which point Campbell reduced them by $2.8 million; however, the verdict was upheld.^[7][8] All versions of the album released since the lawsuit are without the disputed samples.^[9]

Although a fair use issue, Combs and Bad Boy never raised the legal concept of the fair use doctrine in their defense.^[7] This decision was questioned by some legal experts: Anthony Falzone of the Fair Use Project at Stanford Law School criticized Combs and Bad Boy for not defending the legality of sampling and suggested that they might have refused to raise such a defense because they feared it could later imperil their control over their own music.^[10]

2Pac should've sued Puffy too for copyright infringement.

Yes I do find myself believing BIG stole Pac's style. Real talk.

So what are the samples and how has it affected the newer versions of the album?

If the samples were critical parts of those beats, then I'd like to hear the changed versions and how they coped with that!

nd33 said:

So what are the samples and how has it affected the newer versions of the album?

If the samples were critical parts of those beats, then I'd like to hear the changed versions and how they coped with that!

I have a "demo" with "samples" of One More Chance. I prefer it to the album version, its grittier.

scriptgirl said:

All versions of the album released since the lawsuit are without the disputed samples.

None of them were the essential, key samples. They were all like the fourth or fifth element on the beats that added a layer of noise. LOL!

Bad Boy was good about clearing and listing the main samples on the album. Furthermore, the lawsuits had nothing to do with the main hit singles from the album.

from wiki:

Gimme the Loot

• "Coldblooded" by James Brown
• "Throw Ya Gunz" by Onyx (group)
• "What They Hittin' Foe?" by Ice Cube
• "Just to Get a Rep" by Gang Starr
• "Scenario" (Remix) by A Tribe Called Quest
• "Singing in the Morning" by Ohio Players (Removed following lawsuit.)^[5][6]

Machine Gun Funk

• "Something Extra" by Black Heat
• "Chief Rocka" by Lords of the Underground
• "Up for the Down Stroke" by The Horny Horns (Removed following lawsuit.)^[5][6]

Ready to Die

• "Hospital Prelude of Love Theme" by Willie Hutch
• "Singing in the Morning" by The Ohio Players
• "Yes, I'm Ready" by Barbara Mason
• "Impeach the President" by The Honey Drippers
• "Ain't No Half Steppin'" by Big Daddy Kane
• "Two to the Head" by Kool G Rap & DJ Polo
• "Singing in the Morning" by Ohio Players (Removed following lawsuit.)^[5][6]

As We PRO-CEED................

NOW, after all these years, the music fans of the past 2 decades are witnessing all the hijacking that has taken place over the past quarter century

one hijack after the next

the luminaries who made this music was shafted so those who came up during the age of the Pop Ascension could thrive..........

and when this hijacking is outlawed, this industry will close shop in a heartbeat OR collapse to where we can build this thing up froms scratch and we can get some real music back on board

Scorp said:

NOW, after all these years, the music fans of the past 2 decades are witnessing all the hijacking that has taken place over the past quarter century

one hijack after the next

the luminaries who made this music was shafted so those who came up during the age of the Pop Ascension could thrive..........

and when this hijacking is outlawed, this industry will close shop in a heartbeat OR collapse to where we can build this thing up froms scratch and we can get some real music back on board

Wrong! The samples that they sued over were so insignificant that they were simply removed from later pressings. The main basis of the tracks were properly cleared and credited. You're just seeing the greedy side of publishing 20 years later.