LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) — Grammy Award-winning Singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman has sued Nicki Minaj for copyright infringement over samples used in an unreleased song.
In the lawsuit, filed in a federal court in Los Angeles on Tuesday, lawyers for Chapman allege Nicki Minaj engaged in “willful” infringement when she used the lyrics, and vocal melody of Chapman’s composition “Baby Can I Hold You” in Minaj’s track “Sorry.”
Though “Sorry” which featured Nas was never officially released, it still managed to make its way to the airwaves.
On August 11th, Funkmaster Flex, a popular DJ, released a series of tweets indicating that Nicki Minaj had given him access to an unreleased track from her latest album queen. He later played the track during his show on New York radio station Hot 97.
The suit notes that Minaj’s team made multiple requests to Chapman to license the composition, which Chapman refused and underscored the belief that Minaj created the track before approaching Chapman about licensing the samples.
Through the suit, Chapman is seeking a permanent injunction on Minaj copying or using the infringing work, and requiring them to take “reasonable” steps to prevent other people from playing the track.
The suit also seeks damages and the profits derived from Minaj’s alleged infringement, as well as covering Chapman’s legal fees.
