Pusha T‘s stellar Kanye West-produced album DAYTONA was a critical darling last year, but now both Pusha and Kanye have been sued over a sample used prominently on the record. According to Alabama’s TimesDaily, the track in question involves the album-standout “Come Back Baby,” which FAME Enterprises Inc. claims used an unauthorized sample of the late soul singer George Jackson. The suit was filed late last month in the Colbert County circuit court of Alabama.
The suit alleges that “Come Back Baby” samples Jackson’s “I Can’t Do Without You.” Lawyers for FAME claim that the company owns the copyright for the original song—it was recorded in 1972, prior to the Copyright Act of 1972—and would not have licensed the sample due to the fact that the Pusha T record is “about drug addiction and the money made from selling drugs.”
“Defendants have a pattern and practice of willfully sampling sound recordings without consent or permission,” the lawyers say in the filing, as reported by the TimesDaily. They also calculate in the suit that “over 35% of the entire sound recording” of the Pusha T track uses the George Jackson sample.
G.O.O.D. Music, UMG Recordings and Def Jam are also listed as defendants in the case.
