The Legal Liabilities in Hip-Hop

           For the emerging hip-hop artist, a sure way to harm your career before it begins is to fall into legal issues about your music. Legal issues come in a wide variety such as defamatory statements and being sued for infringement on other artists’ copyrighted material.  Legal issues such as those can turn into long drawn out court proceedings that usually leaves one of the parties with an enormous amount of debt and legal fees. Obtaining a good understanding of the laws and regulations will help save you from such frustrations.

            An artist who benefited by knowing the law and having legal representation in his copyright lawsuit case is the megastar Kanye West.  The copyright lawsuit was over his hit song "Stronger" from his 3rd album Graduation. The lawsuit filed by Virginia producer, Vincent Peters claimed that Kanye West stole a portion of the lyrics from his song of the same name. The lyrics were based on 19th century German philosopher, Friedrich Nietzsche's idiom "That which does not kill us makes us stronger." The courts agreed with Kanye West's claim that the famous phrase has been repeatedly used in song lyrics over the past century. The court noted at the time Kelly Clarkson was atop of the Hot 100 Peak Billboard with her song Stronger (What Doesn't Kill You).

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The hip-hop star, Pitbull, was another artist who recently won a lawsuit about his music. Eccentric actress, Lindsay Lohan, sued the rapper for lyrics that she allegedly felt were defamatory and disparaging. She claimed that the lyrics “Hustlers move aside, so I'm tiptoein', to keep flowin'/ I got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan" was also causing emotional distress. The New York federal judge ruled that Pitbull's song was a work of art and thus protected under the First Amendment, and did not cause any emotional distress to the actress.

          A hip-hop artist that was not as fortunate in recent legal matters is Mac Miller. Lord Finesse sued Mac Miller and Rostrum Records for $10 million, for their use of his 1995 song “Hip 2 Da Game” for their own record called “Kool-Aid and Frozen Pizza.” According to Lord Finesse, Miller and company publicly performed and distributed the material without Finesse’s consent.  It is common knowledge in the hip-hop industry that artists would use popular hit songs, replace the original lyrics with their own, and distribute the song on their mixtapes; a clear violation of copyright law. Mac Miller unfortunately decided to settle out of court for an undisclosed amount. This case may revolutionize the way hip-hop artists go about creating mixtapes in the future.

             So to the emerging hip-hop star, be observant of the material you use, and learn about the different laws and regulations that may apply to this industry. Take the time out to study and learn the laws so that you may avoid any legal ramifications.  The knowledge should prove to be useful to know as you go ahead throughout your career.