Universal Music Group faced a lawsuit over a sample used in Mary J. Blige’s classic song “Real Love.” Tuff City Records, which owns the rights to The Honey Dippers’ heavily sampled track “Impeach the President,” sued UMG for copyright infringement on Thursday (April 4).
Tuff City pursued legal action due to “Real Love” allegedly sampling “Impeach the President” without permission. “Real Love” notably sampled Audio Two’s song “Top Billin,” which featured a sample of “Impeach the President.”
“Both the ‘Real Love’ sound recording and the ‘Real Love’ musical composition contain an uncleared sample from ‘Impeach the President,’” Tuff City’s legal team wrote. “Plaintiff has advised Defendant repeatedly of the presence of the uncleared sample from ‘Impeach the President’ in ‘Real Love,’ and Defendant has repeatedly refused to engage Plaintiff in substantive negotiations to rectify the foregoing, let alone agreed to compensate Plaintiff for the past infringement or on an ongoing basis. Defendant’s refusal to cooperate with Plaintiff is difficult to reconcile with the fact that Plaintiff reached an agreement with UMG Recordings, Inc. with respect to the presence of the uncleared sample from ‘Impeach the President’ on the master sound recording of ‘Real Love.’”
According to court documents obtained by AllHipHop, Tuff City claimed UMG caused “great and irreparable injury that cannot fully be compensated or measured in money.” Tuff City said UMG ignored warnings sent to the corporation, resulting in the lawsuit.
“Plaintiff repeatedly notified Defendant in writing of Plaintiff’s ownership rights in the musical composition ‘Impeach the President,’ and on February 13, 2024 advised Defendant that if it did not immediately cease and desist from exploiting the musical composition “Impeach the President” by February 23, 2024, Plaintiff would pursue legal action against them,” Tuff City’s attorneys wrote. “Defendant did not respond to Plaintiff by February 23, 2024.”
Tuff City sought undisclosed damages plus preliminary and permanent injunctive relief. TMZ first reported the lawsuit.