Cameroonian singer Manu Dibango has filed suit in a French court against Rihanna and Michael Jackson for copyright infringement, saying that he wasn’t consulted about the use of a sample in Rihanna’s “Don’t Stop The Music.” The sampled bit was the breakdown from Jackson’s 1983 single “Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”—which itself was a reworking of Dibango’s 1972 track “Soul Makossa,” a usage for which Jackson was compensating Dibango. He’s reportedly looking for 500,000 euros’ worth of compensation for the new usage, although the judges in France won’t let him know whether or not his lawsuit can go through until Feb. 17. After the jump, the three tracks in question.
“Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’”:
African singer sues Michael Jackson and Rihanna [AFP]
Soul Makossa [YouTube]
Wanna Be Startin’ Somethin’ [YouTube]
Rihanna - Don’t Stop The Music [Dailymotion]
In the future, when every song needlessly samples another song needlessy sampling another song, we’ll be able to use our powerful green technologies to settle these disputes. In the meantime, why don’t superstars just pony up a few bucks up front for reasonably talented session musicians?
holly shizzle! My dad had me listening to Manu Dibango sense like foreverago, and I never noticed the correlation! I need to call someone!! xD
How does the Bloodhound Gang factor into this?
I love “Don’t Stop the Music,” but clearly IDJ should just settle this and compensate Dibango — especially if Jackson’s getting paid off the track.
I mean, until we reach the glorious day when IP law allows samples of this sort in the creative commons, obviously he deserves to get paid.