Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, Snoop Dogg, Nelly and Biggie Smalls’ estate sued for copyright infringement
Sean ‘Diddy‘ Combs, Snoop Dogg, Nelly, and Biggie Smalls’ estate have been sued for copyright infringement.
Several rappers have been named in a lawsuit brought forward by 73-year-old David Bravo and 84-year-old Jean Albert Renaud.
According to Billboard, the duo who co-wrote Deodato’s 1980 song ‘Skatin’ claim the song was sampled on Biggie’s ‘Nasty Girl’ with Combs and Nelly, as well as Angie Stone and Snoop Dogg’s ‘I Wanna Thank Ya’, without permission.
Bravo and Renaud allege that both songs, produced by Jazze Pha, use their record as the “complete musical backing track over which new vocal melodies and rap verses were composed.”
The lawsuit reads, “This case embodies a classic ‘David versus Goliath’ struggle. Plaintiffs are independent, everyday creators seeking to recover their rightful compensation that has been unlawfully diverted to billion-dollar record labels, global music publishers, and international recording artists, producers and songwriters.”
They claim that they never granted clearance or received any royalties, having only just come across the samples in recent years.
The suit continues, “Choosing to protect its highly lucrative clients at the direct expense of its duties to plaintiffs, Sony Publishing acted in bad faith and deliberately aligned itself with the infringers. Sony Publishing’s refusal to advocate for the creators of the foundational backing track has forced plaintiffs to drain their life savings to bring this action themselves.”
‘Nasty Girl’ appeared on Biggie’s 2005 posthumous album Duets: The Final Chapter, reaching number 44 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number one on the UK Singles Chart.
As for ‘I Wanna Thank Ya’, the song featured on Stone’s third studio album, Stone Love, released in 2004, and reached number 31 in the UK.