Lord Finesse suing Mac Miller for $10 million.
Hotsauce84
8,450 Posts
I wonder if Finesse paid Oscar Peterson that much for the sample?
Lord Finesse Sues Mac Miller Over Mix Tape
By NICK MCCANN??
ShareThis ??
??????????(CN) - Rapper Lord Finesse says in a $10 million lawsuit that 20-year-old rap star Mac Miller ripped off his 1995 hit "Hip 2 Da Game" to launch his music career.
??????????Looking for more entertainment news? Click here to check out Courthouse News' Entertainment Law Digest.
??????????Lord Finesse (born Robert Hall) has been rapping since the late 1980s, and led the popular New York hip-hop crew Diggin in the Crates (D.I.T.C.), in addition to having a solo career and writing for rappers like Biggie Smalls and Dr. Dre.
??????????In 1995, Finesse released his hit song "Hip 2 Da Game," which is the subject of his lawsuit against Mac Miller in federal court in Manhattan.
??????????"This is a case about a teenage rapper- Mac Miller- copying the music from a song written, produced and performed by Lord Finesse, a hip hop legend, changing the title and then distributing it under his own name in order to launch his music career," the complaint states.
??????????Mac Miller released his version of "Hip 2 Da Game" on a "mix tapes," a term used to describe free music distributed by up-and-coming rappers.
??????????The "mix tape" strategy has been favored by many rappers and hip hop producers in recent years. Rappers often record new rhymes over the instrumental tracks of older, popular rap songs and distribute the music for free.
??????????Finesse, whose real name is Robert Hall, sued the website DatPiff.com, which is one of the best known distributors of free mix tapes from new rappers, and Miller's label, Rostrum Records.
??????????Miller's real name is Malcolm McCormick.
??????????"In 2010, Mac Miller recorded himself rapping over Finesse's music and renamed the song 'Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza' ('The Kool Aid Song')," according to the complaint.
??????????Miller signed with Rostrum in July 2010 and released a mix tape called "K.I.D.S.: Kickin' Incredibly Dope Shit," which contained "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza."
??????????The mix tape was released on DatPiff in August 2010, has been downloaded more than 500,000 times and has been streamed more than 450,000 times, the lawsuit states.
??????????The video for "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza," which uses the beat for "Hip 2 Da Game" has been viewed nearly 24 million times on YouTube, according to the complaint.
??????????Finesse says Miller has profited from the unauthorized use of his song.
??????????The lawsuit cites a New York Times article from last November about Miller that explains how the alleged infringement is "part of a strategy to build a fan base."
??????????"'First, the good news: A new generation of rappers is actively trying to build a new business model in which releasing oodles of free material online builds a fan base that paves the way for revenue streams: touring, merchandise, even something as old-fashioned as a record deal,'" the Times article said.
??????????Finesse says he filed the lawsuit after DatPiff, Rostrum and Miller refused to respond to a cease and desist letter earlier this month.
??????????The $10 million lawsuit alleges copyright infringement, unfair competition, unjust enrichment, interference, deceptive trade practices, and a number of related state law claims. Finesse also seeks a permanent injunction from the court.
??????????The rapper is represented by Brian Levenson and Matthew Schwartz of Schwartz & Ponterio in New York.
Home Back to Top
Courthouse News Service Privacy Policy Search RSS About Us
Lord Finesse Sues Mac Miller Over Mix Tape
By NICK MCCANN??
ShareThis ??
??????????(CN) - Rapper Lord Finesse says in a $10 million lawsuit that 20-year-old rap star Mac Miller ripped off his 1995 hit "Hip 2 Da Game" to launch his music career.
??????????Looking for more entertainment news? Click here to check out Courthouse News' Entertainment Law Digest.
??????????Lord Finesse (born Robert Hall) has been rapping since the late 1980s, and led the popular New York hip-hop crew Diggin in the Crates (D.I.T.C.), in addition to having a solo career and writing for rappers like Biggie Smalls and Dr. Dre.
??????????In 1995, Finesse released his hit song "Hip 2 Da Game," which is the subject of his lawsuit against Mac Miller in federal court in Manhattan.
??????????"This is a case about a teenage rapper- Mac Miller- copying the music from a song written, produced and performed by Lord Finesse, a hip hop legend, changing the title and then distributing it under his own name in order to launch his music career," the complaint states.
??????????Mac Miller released his version of "Hip 2 Da Game" on a "mix tapes," a term used to describe free music distributed by up-and-coming rappers.
??????????The "mix tape" strategy has been favored by many rappers and hip hop producers in recent years. Rappers often record new rhymes over the instrumental tracks of older, popular rap songs and distribute the music for free.
??????????Finesse, whose real name is Robert Hall, sued the website DatPiff.com, which is one of the best known distributors of free mix tapes from new rappers, and Miller's label, Rostrum Records.
??????????Miller's real name is Malcolm McCormick.
??????????"In 2010, Mac Miller recorded himself rapping over Finesse's music and renamed the song 'Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza' ('The Kool Aid Song')," according to the complaint.
??????????Miller signed with Rostrum in July 2010 and released a mix tape called "K.I.D.S.: Kickin' Incredibly Dope Shit," which contained "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza."
??????????The mix tape was released on DatPiff in August 2010, has been downloaded more than 500,000 times and has been streamed more than 450,000 times, the lawsuit states.
??????????The video for "Kool Aid & Frozen Pizza," which uses the beat for "Hip 2 Da Game" has been viewed nearly 24 million times on YouTube, according to the complaint.
??????????Finesse says Miller has profited from the unauthorized use of his song.
??????????The lawsuit cites a New York Times article from last November about Miller that explains how the alleged infringement is "part of a strategy to build a fan base."
??????????"'First, the good news: A new generation of rappers is actively trying to build a new business model in which releasing oodles of free material online builds a fan base that paves the way for revenue streams: touring, merchandise, even something as old-fashioned as a record deal,'" the Times article said.
??????????Finesse says he filed the lawsuit after DatPiff, Rostrum and Miller refused to respond to a cease and desist letter earlier this month.
??????????The $10 million lawsuit alleges copyright infringement, unfair competition, unjust enrichment, interference, deceptive trade practices, and a number of related state law claims. Finesse also seeks a permanent injunction from the court.
??????????The rapper is represented by Brian Levenson and Matthew Schwartz of Schwartz & Ponterio in New York.
Home Back to Top
Courthouse News Service Privacy Policy Search RSS About Us
Comments
Man, I miss the days when a mixtape was a MIXtape and not purely a word used to legally jack beats for some exposure.
Furthermore, I get even more annoyed when dudes create these mixtapes and put a producer credit on it for their boy (and not the OG beatsmith) when all they did was literally jack beat after beat after beat....if using the term mixtape and giving it out for free supposedly voids you of any royalty...why not give respect to the OG beat maker in the track listing or somewhere?
All that said...
It's like when a record says "Collector's Item" on the cover, which pretty much guarantees that it isn't.
Does Mac shout out Lord in his track? I noticed Joey does...but Joey's verses are super boring.
If I'm not mistaken, Mac invited PUTS out on tour. (At least for the Cali dates. I was looking forward to seeing Thes here in AZ but by this leg of the tour I believe Casey Veggies had replaced PUTS. That show sold out pretty quick too, in a rather sizeable venue.)
Dude is a 19 year old kid who turned down major label deals and did amazing numbers independently. I can't say I know his music, but I have a lot of respect for the fact that he's successful on his own terms. That Finesse-sampling song is only one of the many that made him popular and I don't think the intention was malicious. Dude probably wasn't even expecting it to be as popular as it is.
On another note, I happen to be a fan of rappers rapping over classic beats. (Sh*t, I grew up kicking horrible freestyles over instrumentals!) A familiar beat sometimes helps bridge the old with the new.
Either way, it must suck to be sued by one of your idols.
This is pretty much the story of Dancehall.
in any dispute between Lord Finesse and [blank] I pretty much will always ride for Finesse.
The comments on that video are great.
"Finesse (I refuse to call him Lord)..."
Yes.