Lil’ Wayne Sued Like A Rock Star, Headed To Court Over Rolling Stones Sample
July 26,2008
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Multi-platinum selling rapper Lil’ Wayne is being sued for copyright infringement and unfair competition for a track off his Tha Carter III album.
According to Billboard, music-publishing company Abkco Music Inc owns the rights to the Rolling Stones’ hit “Play With Fire” and claim Weezy released an altered version on his 2x platinum release without their permission. The lawsuit accuses the superstar’s revised song “Playing With Fire” noticeably derived the Stones original by using the same lyrics and music in a recognizable manner.
Comparing the two versions, the suit displayed the Stones’ lyric “But don’t play with me, ‘cause you’re playing with fire” and placed it against Weezy’s “But you can’t blame me if I set this stage on fire” as proof of the intentional deception.
Abkco also accuses the revised depiction of featuring “explicit, sexist and offensive language” that is capable of convincing listeners that they approved of the new Stones portrayal.
Also included in the lawsuit are his artistic collaborators and his record company Cash Money/Young Money.
Filed in a New York federal court yesterday (July 24), the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages.