Greensleeves Publishing has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Brown, Sony Music, and Chris Brown TV.
Greensleeves Publishing has filed a copyright infringement lawsuit against Brown, Sony Music, and Chris Brown TV. is accused of copying parts of dancehall musician Red Rat’s 1997 song “Tight Up Skirt” for his 2017 track “Privacy,” which was certified multi-platinum by the Recording Industry Association of America.
Greensleeves says in court filings that it “owns and administers exclusive music publishing rights in the United States” for “Tight Up Skirt,” of which they allege that the singer “took the core musical feature” of the track and “used it prominently” in his 2017 track “Privacy,” and more importantly “without permission.”
The lawsuit also described a lyrical resemblance, explaining that the line “Hey you girl inna di tight upskirt” appears in Red Rat’s song, whereas “Hey you girl without a tight upskirt” appears in Brown’s. Per the complaint, the line in question is “a focal point” in Brown’s “Privacy,” as the track has “a very spare instrumental accompaniment.”
According to HipHopDX, following Brown’s release of the track in 2017, Red Rat revealed he was “getting many calls left and right from many people asking me about my thoughts regarding [Chris Brown] sampling ‘Tight Up Skirt’, and all I can say is, ‘Give God all the glory.’”
Greensleeves is suing for more than $500,000 in damages, as well as more than $1 million for “the gains, profits, and advantages [Brown and SME] have obtained as a result of their acts of copyright infringement.” The publishing company also seeks an order barring the defendants from creating, promoting, or selling “any materials that are substantially similar to the copyrighted work.”
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