Within the last decade the music industry has encountered its share of legal controversies stemming from copyright infringements and piracy issues. Let me update you on some of the most recent issues.
Hip-Hop recording artist and Canada's very own "Drake" has found himself in the midst of a legal controversy this week stemming from his hit single, "Marvin's Room." This song contained a sample of a voice message left for him by his ex-girlfriend, Ericka Lee, the person the song is about. In the lawsuit, Lee states that she has not been properly compensated for her contributions, for which she feels significantly contributed to the overall quality of the song. Drake, Cash Money Records recording artist, denies any wrong doing and stated that Lee only wanted credit and not monetary compensation. In this particular case I feel that Drake could have done a better job to protect himself. In the recording industry and in the court of law, verbal contracts rarely hold merit. Despite Drakes claims that Lee only wanted credit, he should have gotten a contract outlining the terms of the agreement. In this case I feel that Lee will succeed in her attempts to sue her ex-boyfriend aka "Drizzy Drake."
In efforts to help curb online piracy, Universal Music Group has led the way in filling suit against companies that promote online piracy. In November 2011,UMG Recordings sued owners and executives from the online music streaming website,GrooveSharks. The claim alleges copyright infringement for not obtaining the proper licensing for songs by artist signed to the UMG label. GrooveShark had a previous encounter with Capital Records however the copyright case was settled by entering into a licensing agreement. In my opinion, cases like these are meant to send shockwaves through the industry to culprits of identical acts. There are a lot of online music streaming websites that engage in similar activities however by attacking the giants, hopefully others will fall in line and obtain the proper licensing. In this case I feel that Groove Shark will either go away or obtain the proper licensing as they did with Capital records.
One of the most common legal issues that's currently going on within the recording industry deals with stolen music ending up on Billboards top 100. In these cases the initial producers are not given proper credit, while the grammy is being given to the person who played a minor role in the songs original creation process. This past fall, Cash Money records recording artist Lil Wayne and his Young Money camp were hit with a $15 million dollar lawsuit stemming from the unauthorized use of the song "BedRock." Georgia based production team, Done Deal Enterprises claims that Lil wayne stole their song entitled "Bedrock" and incorporated parts of the song into his version in which he titled "Bedrock" as well. After listening to the two songs myself ,I do hear the similarities. I feel that most cases like these are settled before the judge rules and this particular instance should be no different. There has yet to be any follow up info since having filed the suit back in September which leads me to believe that the case may have been settled out of court.
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