Kanye West took the stand in a Manhattan courtroom Thursday and performed a portion of the 2003 song "Stand Up," which is at the center of a copyright infringement lawsuit brought by New Jersey rap group I.O.F. and production company BMS Entertainment/Heat Music LLC.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel ordered him to recite the first two lines to "Stand Up," which he produced for rapper Ludacris and which I.O.F. claims was copied from their song "Straight Like That," mainly because both tunes repeatedly use the lyrics "like that."
Obeying the judge, West reportedly beat-boxed the intro and ripped into the first two lines, which Ludacris then finished. Upon reaching the first verse, West paused for a second, then continued, keeping in the line’s use of fuck.
The judge responded: "I'm sorry I asked,” which caused laughter throughout the courtroom. “I think I'm going to withdraw my question."
West also testified: "There's a lot of rap songs that say, 'like that,' 'yo,' 'what's up?' or 'throw your hands high,' Whatever people say in the 'hood, it ends up on records. That's what hip-hop does."
Ludacris took the stand before West and said he never received a demo copy of "Straight Like That," as the plaintiffs have alleged, and had never even heard the phrase used before.
This first phase of the copyright infringement trial is being held to determine liability. If liability is found, a second phase will assess damages.
U.S. District Judge Kevin Castel ordered him to recite the first two lines to "Stand Up," which he produced for rapper Ludacris and which I.O.F. claims was copied from their song "Straight Like That," mainly because both tunes repeatedly use the lyrics "like that."
Obeying the judge, West reportedly beat-boxed the intro and ripped into the first two lines, which Ludacris then finished. Upon reaching the first verse, West paused for a second, then continued, keeping in the line’s use of fuck.
The judge responded: "I'm sorry I asked,” which caused laughter throughout the courtroom. “I think I'm going to withdraw my question."
West also testified: "There's a lot of rap songs that say, 'like that,' 'yo,' 'what's up?' or 'throw your hands high,' Whatever people say in the 'hood, it ends up on records. That's what hip-hop does."
Ludacris took the stand before West and said he never received a demo copy of "Straight Like That," as the plaintiffs have alleged, and had never even heard the phrase used before.
This first phase of the copyright infringement trial is being held to determine liability. If liability is found, a second phase will assess damages.
