Universal Music Group (UMG) is asking federal judge to dismiss a copyright lawsuit over Mary J. Blige’s classic 1992 song “Real Love.” The lawsuit, brought earlier this year by Tuff City Records, alleges that the song used a sample from the iconic 1973 funk track “Impeach the President” by the Honey Drippers without permission. UMG argues that these claims have come “out of the blue” and lack substance, pointing out that the two songs “sound nothing alike.”
The lawsuit centers on “Impeach the President,” a track well-known in hip-hop for its drumbeat, which has been sampled by major artists like Run-DMC, Dr. Dre and Doja Cat. Tuff City Records claims that Blige’s hit borrows from this legendary beat, but UMG maintains that the two tracks are fundamentally different.
On Tuesday, UMG pushed back strongly against Tuff City’s claims, calling the lawsuit fundamentally flawed and urging the court to dismiss it outright.
“Now, more than 30 years after ‘Real Love’ was released, plaintiff appears out of the blue alleging that ‘Real Love’ allegedly contains an uncleared sample from ‘Impeach the President,’ with no allegations concerning the works’ substantial similarity,” UMG stated. “The absence of that allegation is fatal.”
A central argument in Tuff City’s case is that UMG’s recorded music branch, UMG Recordings, Inc., previously settled on using the “Impeach” sample in the “Real Love” sound recording. Tuff City claims that UMG’s publishing division is allegedly unfairly resisting a similar settlement for the composition itself.
UMG’s response confirmed that a past settlement exists regarding the sound recording, but they argue it’s completely unrelated to the current dispute over the composition. UMG’s lawyers explained that the settlement didn’t imply any admission that “Real Love” infringed “Impeach.” They argue that Tuff City is misunderstanding a basic but crucial distinction in music copyright law.
“Plaintiff … insinuates that defendant infringes simply because non-party UMG settled plaintiff’s claim of infringement [over] the sound recording. Because there exist two separate copyrights in music … a work can readily infringe one without infringing the other,” the company wrote.
Mary J. Blige’s classic hit “Real Love” made a significant impact when it dropped in 1992, spending a full 31 weeks on Billboard’s Hot 100 and peaking at No. 7. Its lasting popularity is undeniable, with over 105 million streams on Spotify and even a Lifetime movie adaptation released last year.
However, the song has recently become the center of a legal dispute. Tuff City, a company with a vast catalog of older songs, filed a lawsuit against UMG in April. Tuff City claims it repeatedly informed UMG about what it says is an unlicensed sample used in “Real Love” and that UMG has allegedly ignored its calls for negotiations. The complaint alleges: “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.”
Notably, the lawsuit doesn’t name Blige as a defendant or accuse her personally of any wrongdoing. Tuff City has been through similar legal battles before, having filed claims over unlicensed samples in songs by artists like Jay-Z, Beastie Boys, Christina Aguilera and Frank Ocean. In fact, this isn’t even the first time “Impeach the President” has been the subject of legal action. Back in 1991, the company claimed LL Cool J allegedly illegally sampled it in his tracks “Around the Way Girl” and “Six Minutes of Pleasure.”
The company has experienced its share of victories in court, including favorable rulings and settlements, but the legal journey has sometimes been challenging. In 2014, a judge dismissed one of Tuff City’s lawsuits involving Jay-Z’s song “Run This Town,” concluding that the supposed sample was “barely perceptible” even after multiple listens. In the dismissal, the judge criticized Tuff City’s legal approach, stating that the company “incorrectly … assumes that every copying of any part of another artist’s protected work is infringement.”
In a motion filed Tuesday to dismiss the current lawsuit over “Real Love,” UMG pointed directly to the 2014 decision, contending that the two songs “sound nothing alike” and that Tuff City had not demonstrated any reason to believe otherwise.
“Unwilling to learn from the lessons of its past, plaintiff again seeks to assert copyright liability without plausible pleading substantial similarity with respect to the musical compositions at issue here,” UMG argued. “The copyright claim must accordingly be dismissed.”
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