Nice Timing: Beastie Boys Sued Over Samples
Tuesday, May 8, 2012 at 9:08AM
Less than 24 hours before Adam Yauch succumbed to caner, Tuf America, a hip-hop/R&B label, filed a lawsuit against the Beastie Boys over some samples used their first two albums.
Three songs ("Hold It Hit Hit" and "The New Style" from Licensed to Ill and "Car Thief" from Paul's Boutique) are alleged to have used bits of Trouble Funk's 1982 song, "Drop the Bomb." A fourth song ("Shadrach" from Paul's Boutique) is said to have illegally sampled the Trouble Funk's "Say What."
According to AllHipHop "Tuf America said they did a thorough sound analysis of the tracks in question and concluded that the Beastie Boys illegally incorporated elements of the songs without permission." The site helpfully posts all the songs in question so we can judge for ourselves.
You'd think that these issues would have been raised and solved long ago, but apparently not. Why is Tuf America raising this situation now?
Reader Comments (3)
"Why is Tuf America raising this situation now?"
Money? Could it be money? Hmmm maybe it's money? No. Wait. I got it. It's money!
Did I say it's for money? Because I'm hesitating between money aaaaand... money.
Well, you get the point!
I was under the impression this did not matter due to the nature of the release date? I thought the whole reason why Paul's Boutique was so unique was because something like that could not be done today? Insight please.
I think you are going to refer to the book on the album.
http://www.amazon.com/The-Beastie-Boys-Pauls-Boutique/dp/0826417418