Chapman has sued Minaj for sampling her song “Baby Can I Hold You” without permission.
Nicki Minaj has responded in court to a lawsuit brought against her by singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman, as The Blast reports.
Chapman launched a copyright infringement lawsuit against Minaj in October 2018. Her suit claims Minaj’s unreleased song “Sorry” contains an interpolation of Chapman’s song “Baby Can I Hold You,” and that it used without her permission and violates Chapman’s copyright. Minaj denies this in her response filed on Tuesday, and claims the song’s interpolation is protected under the doctrine of fair use.
She further stated that Chapman “has not properly registered her claim to the copyright in the Composition [“Baby Can I Hold You”],” meaning that Chapman “is not the owner of the copyright in issue and therefore lacks standing to bring the claims alleged in the Complaint.” Nicki also argues that Chapman is not entitled to damages.
A report revealed that before “Sorry” was released, Nicki publicly asked Tracy Chapman to clear a sample shortly before the release of her album Queen.
Chapman had claimed that the rapper’s team made multiple requests to license “Baby Can I Hold You” and was denied.
Nicki while responding to this allegation “admits that her representatives made several requests for permission to release a musical interpolation that used music and lyrics from [“Baby Can I Hold You”].”
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