14 May CLAIM BROUGHT AGAINST CHILDISH GAMBINO’S THIS IS AMERICA

Actor and performer Donald Glover aka Childish Gambino has been sued by a Florida rapper over copyright infringement in his Grammy Award winning hit single, “This Is America”.

The rapper Emelike Nwosuocha (aka rapper Kidd Wes) seeks damages and an injunction arising from his allegation that there are substantial similarities between his 2017 song “Made in America”, which he uploaded to Soundcloud and YouTube, and Glover’s work.

His complaint says that “the substantial similarities between both songs include, but are not limited to, nearly-identical unique rhythmic, lyrical, and thematic compositional and performance content contained in the chorus – or “hook” – sections that are the centerpieces of both songs”.

The complaint is also brought against a number of other individuals and corporate entities involved in Glover’s 2018 track, including rapper, Young Thug. It points to the similarities between Glover’s “distinctive flow” and the “unique flow” used for the hook of Nwosuocha’s song and adds that, “…the lyrical theme, content, and structure of the identically-performed choruses” are also “glaringly similar”.

The complaint relies on comments from members of the public drawing attention to the similarities between the works, for example a comment on Soundcloud saying “Gambino ripped this shit off you G”, as well as on evidence from an “Esteemed University of Miami Musicologist”. Nwosuocha refers to the fact that Glover and the other defendants have “profited in the amount of hundreds of millions of dollars” and is demanding a trial by jury in his complaint, which, unlike in the UK, is a mode of trial available in copyright infringement cases in the US.

The claim is the most recent example of high-profile hits becoming the target of copyright infringement claims, a trend which came to prominence with an award by a Court to the estate of Marvin Gaye in relation to infringement by Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke’s hit Blurred Lines.

After the Blurred Lines claim led to a $5million (£3.5million) judgment, many similar claims, against artists such as Ariana Grande and Miley Cyrus, have resulted in settlements, with defendants understandably reluctant to take their chances before a jury.