Ludacris, West win copyright case

[KiwiCoromandel]

Rappers Christopher "Ludacris" Bridges and Kanye West have been cleared of accusations they pilfered rhythms and phrases from a song by a small New Jersey group who had filed a copyright case in a New York court.

The little-known group I.O.F. had claimed Ludacris and Grammy Award winner West breached copyright laws by stealing lyrics and style from their song Straight Like That, using it for the pair's 2003 hit single Stand Up.

The four members of I.O.F., standing for It's Only Family, said they distributed copies of their song to music executives in 2002 and 2003, only to later recognise elements of their song in Ludacris' Stand Up, co-produced by West.

Jeff Billingsley, manager of I.O.F., said the group was determined to appeal. "Probably Ludacris feels good that he got over this, but he has not gotten away," he told Reuters.

Lawyers for Ludacris and West argued during the case that the first time they heard I.O.F.'s song was when the lawsuit was filed, and that similar rhythms and chorus words "like that" contained in both songs were not original to I.O.F.

The case livened up the normally sober proceedings of the US District Court in Manhattan as lawyers played rap music to the jurors as part of their arguments.

The plaintiffs brought the case to determine if there was liability, before any monetary damages could be claimed.

Mel Sachs, a lawyer representing I.O.F., said they planned to appeal on the grounds that a music expert they had planned to call as a witness was excluded by the judge as part of sanctions against another lawyer who represented them before.

"The verdict was disappointing but understandable in the wake of this order to preclude the plaintiffs' expert in the case," Sachs told Reuters.

[NelsonG]

This is still something to watch because of the appeal from the new lawyer and the possibility of the expert witness from the defendants being heard in the appeals case.