Smooth Jazz legend Bob James files suit against critically acclaimed Hip Hop producer Madlib (Otis Jackson Jr.) for genre blending and for sampling James’ music without permission or compensation.
On April 10, James’ attorney Allen Hyman of North Hollywood, CA commenced an action in California Central Federal District Court. The case is being presided over by Judge Stephen V. Wilson. James’ lawsuit names Jackson as a defendant as well as his record label, the legendary independent imprint Stones Throw Records. James also sues Amazon and Apple for lost profits for sale of the music. The civil suit seeks damages for copyright infringement including costs and fees. Federal Copyright infringement is defined in Chapter 17 § 501 as the following:
- Anyone who violates any of the exclusive rights of the copyright owner as provided by sections 106 through 122 or of the author as provided in section 106A (a), or who imports copies or phonorecords into the United States in violation of section 602, is an infringer of the copyright or right of the author, as the case may be.
Allegedly Jackson used portions of James’ copyright protected composition “Nautilus” as the foundation for Jackson’s song “Sparkdala.”. The lawsuit comes complete with searing condemnation of Hip Hop and the genre’s penchant for sampling.
“One of the problems that confront many ‘Hip Hop’ or ‘Rap’ artists is that they are unable to achieve an instrumental background musical sound quality for their works,” James states. “As a result, they borrow or ‘sample,’ therefore infringe the performance and composition of others in this case, the copy written works of James.”
James’ criticism is odd considering Hip Hop’s appreciation of his music. James is one of the most sampled Jazz musicians in Hip Hop history and his work has been the background for critically acclaimed Hip Hop classic music. Specifically, the aforementioned “Nautilus” was sampled on Ghostface Killah’s “Daytona 500,” Slick Rick’s “Children’s Story” and Main Source’s “Live at the Barbeque.” The bell heavy “Take me to the Mardi Gras” was used in Run DMC’s “Peter Piper” and the Beastie Boys “Hold It Now, Hit It.” However, James’ penchant for suing MCs for un-cleared samples is not new. James sued DJ Jazzy Jeff and Fresh Prince for sampling “Westchester Lady” on their hit “Touch of Jazz.” When questioned about the lawsuit James stated the following:
“From my standpoint, I had to take a stand about it, because the copyright, and the maintaining of the ownership of copyright, are the most valuable and important things that we have in this business. And the control over the usage of it. And to have someone attempt to take that out from under you is a very big deal. And it’s a bigger deal from the standpoint of the record companies than the artist.”
Does it sound like James simply doesn’t like the idea of sampling and will sue anytime he sees a slim chance of winning? Does he have a vendetta with Hip Hop in general? Weigh in in our comments section and let us know if his claims are substantial.
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