Rapper Kanye West
and Universal Music are seeking to battle against the copyright lawsuit filed
earlier this year over the use of a clip at the start of his 2016 track
‘Ultralight Beam’.
According to an
Instagram video, this song that was recorded for West’s album titled ‘The Life
of Pablo’ includes the voice of a young girl in prayer. The video was uploaded
by the girl’s mother in early 2016.
Sounds a bit
interesting, West claimed that he received verbal approval to use the clip in
his song from the child’s mother – Alice T Johnson. Nevertheless, in the Copyright Infringement lawsuit filed back in February, the girl’s adoptive
parents – Andrew and Shirley Green, who adopted the girl in 2012 – argued that
the agreement in connection with the use of the clip having girl’s voice had to
be with them. It is because, at the time when the clip was recorded, Johnson
was no longer legally the girl’s mother, and thus, didn’t possesses the
authority to allow the girl’s voice to be used in the song.
The Greens further
contended that even if Johnson provided approval, the lawsuit should continue
as conversations amid her and West were only verbal. Meanwhile, Kanye neither
finalized any written agreement with either Johnson or the Greens, nor he ever
paid a fee for using the clip in his song.
To prevent the
rapper from statutory or other relevant damages, his legal representatives have
attempted to limit the copyright infringement lawsuit in several ways. Their
response filed with the court deals with numerous elements of the case. For
instance, firstly, West’s lawyers said that the Greens had not registered the
original recording of the clip with the U.S. Copyright Office at the time when
Ultralight Beam was recorded. Hence, they are not entitled to either attorney
fees or statutory damages. Indeed, if the representatives succeed in arguing
this, then there are possibilities that the damages owed to the Greens could
reduce greatly.
Elsewhere West legal
team seeks to remove an additional plaintiff, Andreia Green, from the lawsuit
entirely. She is a relative of the child, and her adult voice, in addition to
the girl, is also heard in the recording sampled by West. However, team West
insisted that because Andreia Green is not listed as a co-owner of the
recording in the Copyright Registration with the US Copyright Office, she has no
standing in this case.
This is how West and
his legal team responded so far in regard to the Ultralight Beam lawsuit.
Nevertheless, for the final settlement, it now remains to be seen how the court
and the Greens respond to West’s motion. For more visit: https://www.trademarkmaldives.com
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