Playboi Carti and Universal Music Group won a lawsuit over the wrongful takedown of a lesser-known rapper’s song. According to Billboard, Judge Analisa Torres said UMG didn’t violate Digital Millennium Copyright Act protections when it flagged G-Baby’s song “Oi!” for using the same licensed beat as Playboi Carti’s track “Right Now.”
“Because the DMCA requires only a good faith belief that material is infringing, a copyright holder is not liable for misrepresentation under the DMCA if they subjectively believe the identified material infringes their copyright, even if that belief is ultimately mistaken,” Judge Torres ruled.
G-Baby, whose real name is Jordan White, sued Carti and UMG for getting “Oi!” taken down from Twitter. White paid $250 for the non-exclusive license of a Pi’erre Bourne beat in 2017. The Bourne-produced instrumental was used for G-Baby’s “Oi!” Bourne gave the same beat to Carti for 2018’s “Right Now.”
White claimed Carti (real name Jordan Carter) and Bourne (real name Jordan Jenks) knew “Oi!” wasn’t a jacked beat but worked with UMG to get it taken down. White believed Carti was upset someone legally used the same instrumental.
“Carter and Jenks knew that ‘Oi!’ was properly licensed and not infringing, yet decided to conspire with Universal,” White argued. “Carter, Jenks and Universal sought the take-down of White’s song with the specific intent of harming White.”
White failed to convince the judge of any wrongdoing. Judge Torres found no evidence of Carti directing UMG to take down White’s song.
“Although Carter may well have been aware of (and displeased with) White’s license to use the beat, White has failed to establish that Carter had any part in the takedown notices,” the judge determined.
Carti’s “Right Now” appeared on his debut album Die Lit. The project peaked at No. 3 on the Billboard 200 chart.