Childish Gambino sued for plagiarism over This Is America avclub.com - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from avclub.com Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
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On the night of Jan. 26, 2014, Thomas Bangalter and Guy-Manuel de Homem-Christo of Daft Punk leapt onto the stage at Staples Center to accept the Grammy for album of the year.
Even though the French electronic duo’s faces were hidden behind white and gold robot masks, they couldn’t hide their elation as they waved back to cheers from Jay-Z, Taylor Swift and Kendrick Lamar. Their album “Random Access Memories” and its smash single “Get Lucky” were crowning achievements in a career of immaculately produced dance music, played at pop-star scale.
Meanwhile, somewhere in the flatlands of L.A., far from the limos and gowns at Staples Center, Eddie Johns bedded down for the night.
Donald Glover is being sued for copyright infringement by a Florida rapper, TMZ reports and Pitchfork can confirm via court documents. The rapper, Kidd Wes, claims that the Childish Gambino song âThis Is Americaâ infringes on the copyright of his 2016 song âMade in America.â Kidd Wes, whose real name is Emelike Wesley Nwosuocha, filed his lawsuit today (May 6) in a New York federal court.
The list of defendants in Kidd Wesâ lawsuit is extensive. In addition to Donald Glover, the defendants are: âThis Is Americaâ co-writer Young Thug, âThis Is Americaâ producer Lüdwig Goransson, Kobalt Music, RCA Records, Sony Music Entertainment, Young Stoner Life Publishing LLC, 300 Entertainment, Atlantic Records, Warner Music Group, Roc Nation, Universal Music Publishing Group, and Warner Chappell Music.
Neither Hipgnosis nor the band s representatives immediately responded yesterday to AFP requests for comment.
As most of the songs were written collectively by band members Flea, Anthony Kiedis, John Frusciante and Chad Smith, the purchase required joint approval.
According to Billboard, Hipgnosis sold nine million new ordinary shares at US$1.66 per share on April 29 to finance the deal, which brought in US$14 million.
The company headed by music magnate Merck Mercuriadis debuted on the London Stock Exchange in July 2018, and has dropped well over US$1 billion on catalog acquisitions including from Neil Young, Blondie, Shakire and RZA.
The latest sale is part of a song rights purchasing boom as financial markets increasingly are drawn to the lucrative portfolios as an asset class.