14 DAY TRIAL // TufAmerica has a habit of suing artists over sampling accusations and, this time, the artist they believe is guilty of illegal sampling is Brooklyn rapper Jay Z. The copyright infringement lawsuit revolves around Jay Z's collaboration with Rihanna and Kanye West, “Run This Town.”
New York's TufAmerica Inc. is accusing Jay Z of sampling without permission Eddie Bo's song “Hook & Sling” from the 1960s, for his 2009 hit “Run This Town.” In the lawsuit filed earlier this week, the label argues that Jay should face the consequences of his repeated sampling of the song for which TufAmerica Inc. owns all the exclusive rights.
The label demands damages to be determined at trial and a court order to be released in order to stop “further distribution and exploitation” of jazz singer Eddie Bo's songs, according to New York Daily News.
This is not the first time TufAmerica is suing Jay Z or his Roc-A-Fella Records, but all previous lawsuits were settled before trial. It seems TufAmerica is trying its luck again.
TufAmerica is also taking issue with other artists, having recently sued Christina Aguilera for allegedly using David Cortez's “Hippy Skippy Moon Strut” song from 1968 on her “Aint' No Other Man” hit, and The Beastie Boys. The label also sued Kanye West in September 2012 for sampling the same song as Jay Z on two of the tracks on the “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy.”
This is not the only scandal Jay Z has gotten himself into. During his collaboration with luxury store Barneys New York, talk of racist profiling started after two black customers accused Barneys of profiling them because they were buying expensive items. As the accusations became stronger, Jay was cornered by fans into dropping the deal.
The rapper recently announced the release of his new men's fragrance called “Gold Jay Z” in collaboration with the world's second biggest perfume company Ilias Ermenidis. The fragrance is going to be released on November 29.