lol....Tupac, MJ, and Will Smith getting sued.

Casey

Well-Known Member
Staff member
#1
source

An old-school bluesman is bringing the legal whammy bar down on Michael Jackson, Will Smith, and even Tupac Shakur, claiming they all stole his song "Different Strokes" without paying proper tribute -- or loot. The world, it seems, does move to the beat of just one drum.




Syl Johnson (real name, Sylvester Thompson), who played with Junior Wells and Howlin' Wolf, among others, alleges in the copyright infringement suit that Jacko's "Blood on the Dance Floor," Smith's "Who Stole the D.J.," and Tupac's "Peep Game" all borrowed from his 1967 hit "Different Strokes," -- not the TV theme song you're probably thinking about. Syl's claiming that he hasn't seen one red cent from any of them. What you talkin' about Willis?!

Johnson is seeking unspecified damages. Smith's rep tells TMZ they don't comment on pending litigation, while reps for Jacko, and Tupac's estate, didn't return messages seeking comment.
 

Casey

Well-Known Member
Staff member
#2
add KRS-One, NWA and Peedi Crakk/Yung Gunz to that list.

The most famous sample of the song that i can think of though, is Kool G Rap's "Talk Like Sex", but I havent heard KGR's name mentioned in any litigation. Perhaps the sample was legally cleared in that instance. Another famous one is Wu-Tang's "Shame On A Nigga".
 
#5
what i'm wondering is whether his beef is actually with the record company and not with the artists themselves. remember George Clinton? everyone was getting rich off samples of his music and he wasn't getting paid for any of it. but it wasn't because the samples weren't cleared, it was because the record company who owned the rights to these songs wasn't paying George royalties like they are supposed to. i don't really know all the facts of this case, but i hope this guy at least looked into that before he came with that lawsuit. we all know record companies can be shady like that when it comes to royalties.
 

S O F I

Administrator
Staff member
#7
The funniest thing about this is a comment I saw on some website.

"First black on black crime, now black on black litigation." LOL
 

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