French Montana’s song, “Ain’t Worried About Nothin”, ironically put him in a worrisome situation. To be specific, the rapper found himself in a copyright lawsuit where he was allegedly accused of “ripping off” another artist’s song. Although Montana won the copyright lawsuit, the victory was through pure technicality.
According to Billboard, Montana was accused of ripping off producer Eddie Lee Richardson’s instrumental song, “Hood Pushing Weight”. In more detail, the source shares how the rapper was accused of allegedly illegally sampling the Chicago hip-hop producer on his song, “Ain’t Worried About Nothin.” Although the allegations remained stern on Richardson’s behalf, the judge ruled that Montana didn’t technically infringe the rights because the producer only filed for copyright over the sound recording and not for the composition itself. Billboard includes the judge’s statement which quotes, “The mere fact that the songs may share certain musical elements is simply not enough for a jury to conclude that such sampling actually occurred”.
Through the judge’s statement and final conclusion, the lawsuit was dropped and Montana won against the accusations of alleged copyright infringement. Nevertheless, the judge sympathizes with Richardson and proclaimed that “imitation is flattery”, which without a doubt is a way to encourage Richardson to continue creating his music, because it is certainly being recognized by others.
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