Pass the Mic Sample Lawsuit

[DrunkenMantis]

Hey does anyone remember when they were sued over the sample heard at the very beginning of Pass the Mic? it was like 2005 or something. I believe that they won the case.

[tpk]

it happened back in 2002 and they did win. sucked for james newton though.

[JohnnyChavello]

Hey does anyone remember when they were sued over the sample heard at the very beginning of Pass the Mic? it was like 2005 or something. I believe that they won the case.

You should read the case here (http://cip.law.ucla.edu/cases/2000-2009/Pages/newtondiamond.aspx). It's interesting - spends a good portion of the opinion describing both the original work and the context of the use in Pass the Mic. Although it only deals with the composition and not the sound recording, it's spot on in terms of its balance of the rights of authors and the public interest in making copyrighted works available as inputs for new and transformative uses.

There should be a part II. TufAmerica v. Yauch!

[DJ_Skrilla]

Yeah really its how much off the song did they use and blah blah its very analytical. So thats how they won the pass the mic case. Newton was saying his sample was used to remake the whole song or something but indeed he lost because it was not, it was just a sample looped.
The turf bomb case seems pretty straightforward (if they never paid for the sample), but unclear why they are suing 25 years later...
You can check the songs here:
http://www.tmz.com/2012/05/08/beastie-boys/

[benchillin]

thats the first time ive heard James W. Newton "Choir" such a beautiful piece.

by the way what happened with the triple trouble lawsuit?