A Judge Has Ruled That Nicki Minaj Didn’t Do Anything Wrong By Sampling Tracy Chapman’s Music
Nicki Minaj has faced many confrontations in her life, from Cardi B’s footwear to the laws of physics to those pesky laws that keep her husband from liking her Instagram posts, but for two years she’s been deep in a battle against singer, songwriter, and vehicular speed specialist Tracy Chapman. Nicki tried to sample music and lyrics from Tracy’s 1988 song, “Baby Can I Hold You,” for a song called “Sorry.” Tracy refused to sign off on the sample, and accused Nicki of stealing, which created a legal mess for both of them. But, a judge recently decided that Nicki wasn’t breaking any kind of copyright infringement laws when she sampled Tracy’s song.
Nicki had planned to include “Sorry” on her 2018 album Queen, but had to remove it when Tracy’s lawyers got involved. “Sorry” was never released, but it did make its way to the internet, which means lots of people ended up hearing it after all, and Tracy was not happy about that. Here’s a few clips of “Sorry,” featuring Nas.
That would be why Tracy ended up suing Nicki in 2018. According to Tracy, Nicki’s side asked for permission to sample, “Baby Can I Hold You” and Tracy turned them down, citing that “Sorry” didn’t do so much as sample “Baby Can I Hold You,” but blatantly recycled it. And she’s not exactly wrong. The first few bars of “Sorry” do kind of sound like a dancehall cover of Tracy’s song, which is actually a thing that already existed before Nicki’s song was recorded (and we’ll get to that in a minute).
But then, whoopsies! Nicki’s song was leaked for all the world to hear. Tracy implied that Nicki’s team leaked the song on purpose as a way of getting it out there without putting it on the album. Tracy sued Nicki for damages and part of the profits from Queen. Tracy’s dreams of getting payback hit a little snag. Yesterday, the judge presiding over Nicki vs. Tracy decided that Nicki did exactly what she was legally allowed to do, which was to experiment with existing music to create something new. via Variety:
“Artists usually experiment with works before seeking licenses from rights holders and rights holders typically ask to see a proposed work before approving a license,” the judge wrote. “A ruling uprooting these common practices would limit creativity and stifle innovation within the music industry.”
Essentially, if an artist was forced to ask for permission first before they sampled anything, they’d end up spending all of their time writing letters and making phone calls, instead of being creative. The judge added that Nicki’s choice to use Tracy’s song was classic music industry experimentation, and thus was protected under fair use laws. And, Nicki’s lawyers are arguing that Nicki didn’t even know she was sampling Tracy’s song at first. Nicki claims she was sampling Shelly Thunder’s song, “Sorry” which is exactly a dancehall cover of Tracy’s “Baby Can I Hold You.” Nicki is originally from Trinidad and Tobago, so it might make sense that she could have grown up hearing Shelly’s version over Tracy’s.
Their battle over “Sorry” isn’t done. Even though the judge decided Nicki was absolutely within her rights to sample the music and lyrics, Tracy’s side is still arguing that Nicki is responsible for leaking the song. “Sorry” was debuted by DJ Flex, and Tracy’s side claims Nicki provided DJ Flex with the leaked song. Tracy’s lawyers are arguing that’s grounds for copyright infringement. Nicki’s side continues to deny they leaked the song to radio stations. The judge decided that’s going to be up to a jury to decide. Hmm….I wonder how they’ll figure out the truth of who leaked that song? All I know is that if Nicki really did leak that song, she better hope and pray that nobody calls her work friend Tekashi69 to the witness stand. He’s not exactly known for keeping his mouth shut.
Pic: Wenn.com