Represented by Ellis George attorneys Peter W. Ross and Eric Lauritsen, Nicki Minaj filed summary judgment papers in defense of copyright infringement claims brought by Tracy Chapman over Minaj’s creation of a demo recording of the song Sorry. Disputing Chapman’s claim that Minaj’s recording was a “textbook example of willful copyright infringement,” Ellis George attorneys argued that Chapman’s theory would turn the recording industry on its head by requiring musicians to obtain permission before even recording songs that might require a clearance or license.
One open question in the case is who provided a copy of the demo recording to Funkmaster Flex, who leaked the song on his popular radio show in New York. Contrary to Chapman’s claims that Minaj leaked the recording, Peter Ross pointed to the ample testimony elicited by Ellis George contradicting Chapman’s theory, noting that the “evidence, in many instances directly contradicts Chapman’s story” that Minaj was the leaker, which “leaves open many possibilities as to ‘who done it?’”
Additional coverage of this litigation can be found at The Hollywood Reporter.
