Universal Music Group is facing a new lawsuit.
via: Reuters
In New York federal court over an allegedly unauthorized sample in hip-hop soul singer Mary J. Blige’s 1992 hit song “Real Love.”
New York-based Tuff City Records told the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York, opens new tab on Thursday that “Real Love” uses part of the Honey Drippers’ often-sampled 1972 funk song “Impeach the President” that it did not clear, requesting an unspecified amount of monetary damages from Universal Music’s publishing arm.
Representatives for UMG did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday. Tuff City’s attorney Hillel Parness of Parness Law Firm declined to comment on the lawsuit.
As TMZ adds, what’s interesting is that if you look into what song is actually credited as the sample for “Real Love” — it’s actually another hip hop song that came out in the ’80s called “Top Billin'” by Audio Two … and if you look at that song and what they sampled, ‘ITP’ is in fact listed.
Tuff’s suing for damages and wants to stop Universal from continuing to profit off its sample in “Real Love” until the matter’s resolved. BTW … Mary is not a defendant in this.
