Tracy Chapman has accepted a $450,000 settlement from rapper Nicki Minaj forsampling her song without permission, bringing their lengthycopyright infringement battleto an end.
Because Chapman accepted Minaj’s offer, outlined in documents made public by California federal court on Thursday, Jan. 7, the two platinum-selling recording artists will not have to face off at a trial that was scheduled for later this year.
Chapman, a longtime San Francisco resident, sued Minaj in October 2018 for using a sizable sample of her 1988 single “Baby Can I Hold You” on an unreleased track called “Sorry.” The reclusive Grammy-winning singer had denied requests to incorporate the lyrics and vocal melody in the song that was slated for Minaj’s fourth album, “Queen.”
“对不起,” a collaboration with Nas,did not make the final cut for the album, but查普曼的诉讼声称,说唱歌手递给the song off to New York radio DJ Funkmaster Flex, who premiered it on the station Hot 97 and posted it to his social media accounts.
At one point, Minaj took to Twitter to consult her fans over the sampling issue in a series of now-deleted tweets.
“So there’s a record on #Queen that features 1o of the greatest rappers of all time,” she wrote. “Had no clue it sampled the legend #TracyChapman — do I keep my date & lose the record? Or do I lose the record & keep my date? Do we push #Queen back 1week? Ugh! I’m torn, y’all help. Tracy Chapman, can you please hit me. omg for the love of #Queen.”
Minaj later broadcast the answer via Twitter: “Sis said no,” she said, adding a shrug emoji.
The rapper said her use of “Baby Can I Hold You” as the foundation for “Sorry,” even without Chapman’s permission, fell under the doctrine of “fair use.” That argument was seemingly supported by Judge Virginia A. Phillips, of U.S. District Court in Los Angeles, who wrote a summary judgment decision in September that stated that because the track was never officially released, prohibiting artists from experimenting in the studio “would limit creativity and stifle innovation within the music industry.”
Chapman’s legal team shot back with the allegation that Minaj made the track public by leaking it to Funkmaster Flex, a move that, if proved in court, would lead to significant penalties.
The issue was settled with the $450,000 payout, which the court papers show was offered by Minaj’s lawyers on Dec. 17 and accepted by Chapman’s representatives on Dec. 30.
“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,” Chapman said Friday, Jan 8, in a statement. “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.”
Chapman added, “This lawsuit was a last resort — 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.”
Minaj’s lawyers countered with the claim that the only reason they decided to settle the case is that it would have cost more to go to trial.
“Baby Can I Hold You” is a song on Chapman’s 1988 self-titled debut album, which brought her international stardom, selling 10 million copies shortly after she graduated from Tufts University in Massachusetts. Within a year of its release, the songwriter, best known for the hit “Fast Car,” went from playing local coffeehouses to performing at Nelson Mandela’s 70th birthday concert at London’s Wembley Arena and winning three Grammy Awards.
In arare interviewwith The Chronicle in 2000, Chapman expressed concern about her music being taken out of context: “You can talk to someone and explain the thought or the song and then find that when it is described to someone else, it’s not what you had in mind. All the time we’re speaking the same language, but the translation doesn’t hold up.”