Nicki Minaj To Pay Tracy Chapman $450k For Copyright Infringement

Nicki Minaj (Photo: DFree/shutterstock.com)

NICKI MINAJ is set to pay TRACY CHAPMAN $450,000 in damages for copyright infringement for the sampling of her song "Sorry." The two have agreed to the settlement in order to avoid a trial later this year. CHAPMAN also avoids being responsible for costs had a jury eventually decided her claims weren't worth that amount.

CHAPMAN filed the case back in OCTOBER 2018. The suit came a couple months after MINAJ released her album, QUEEN. While "Sorry," a collaboration with NAS, wasn't on the album, MINAJ allegedly leaked the song to radio air personality FUNKMASTER FLEX. The song then spread on the internet.

Court documents reveal MINAJ and her reps sought a license to CHAPMAN's composition. One of the clearance specialists put on the task is said to have known that CHAPMAN was on the “do not sample list”— an unwritten list of artists who are well-known for not allowing samples of their works. MINAJ's team made efforts anyway, but CHAPMAN rejected the request. While MINAJ persisted, the song got out through the leak.

The ruling on the case by U.S. District Court Judge VIRGINIA PHILLIPS was that MINAJ had a fair use right to use the song in the studio to enable musical experimentation. She said, "A ruling uprooting these common practices would limit creativity and stifle innovation within the music industry." But at the same time she set up a trial to explore the facts and responsibility for the leak and ultimate distribution of the song. It's believed MINAJ may have had some hopes of ultimately prevailing, but there was still significant evidence against her.

CHAPMAN said in a statement, "I am glad to have this matter resolved and grateful for this legal outcome which affirms that artists' rights are protected by law and should be respected by other artists. I was asked in this situation numerous times for permission to use my song; in each instance, politely and in a timely manner, I unequivocally said no. Apparently Ms. MINAJ chose not to hear and used my composition despite my clear and express intentions. This lawsuit was a last report — pursued in an effort to defend myself and my work and to seek protection for the creative enterprise and expression of songwriters and independent publishers like myself."

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