(AllHipHop News) Tracy Chapman and Nicki Minaj have squashed their legal battle over an unreleased track by the rap superstar, which sampled one of the rocker’s songs.
Tracy sued Nicki in October of 2018, after Funkmaster Flex debuted the unreleased song via his popular show on Hot 97, as Nicki prepared to release Queen.
Tracy Chapman sued Nicki for copyright infringement, but Nicki’s said she did nothing wrong since the record was never officially released and was protected under “fair use” laws.
Funk Flex was hauled into court, where he testified that he had obtained “Sorry” from one of his “bloggers” and not from the star.
AllHipHop.com can exclusively reveal that Nicki made an offer to pay Tracy Chapman $450,000 to make the lawsuit disappear, and the offer was accepted.
In September of 2020, Nicki scored a huge victory when U.S. District Judge Virginia A. Phillips ruled in favor of the rapper, agreeing with her interpretation of the song was “fair use.”
“Artists usually experiment with works before seeking licenses from rights holders and rights holders typically ask to see a proposed work before approving a license,” Judge Phillips said in the ruling.
But the case was scheduled to be heard by a jury, to whether or not Nicki Minaj should be held liable for allegedly leaking the tune to Funk Flex.
Both parties agreed to settle the ongoing legal saga because the legal fees were piling up on both sides.
