Copyright lawsuit against Rita Ora, Notorious B.I.G. estate dismissed

The lawsuit against Rita Ora and rapper Notorious B.I.G. estate, brought about by an American poet, has been dismissed by a US court two years after it was filed.

The suit seeking US$24 million was filed by Abiodun Oyewole of spoken-word group The Last Poets.

He said that he had invented the phrase “party and bullshit” in The Last Poets’ 1970 track “When The Revolution Comes”.

It was used by the Notorious B.I.G in his 1993 classic ‘Party And Bullshit’.

The poet insisted that B.I.G. had been contacted but had repeatedly “failed and refused” to offer him payment.

B.I.G. was shot to death on March 9, 1997.

Oyewole says he delayed taking legal action earlier because he saw “no reason to hassle [Biggie Smalls’] widow or mother following the loss of their loved one.”

But he felt compelled after Rita Ora’s 2012 single ‘How We Do (Party)’ sampled the hook of ‘Party and Bullshit’.

He was angered, he said, because Biggie and Ora had changed the message of his song.

He said ‘When The Revolution Comes; was recorded with the “sole purpose of challenging and encouraging people to NOT party, but to move towards success”.

The lawsuit claimed Oyewole “sustained and continues to sustain damages [and] suffered and continues to suffer irreparable injury”, and is therefore asking for $24 million in damages and unpaid royalties.

The suit included 14 defendants, including the Biggie track’s producer Easy Moe Bee, P Diddy’s Justin Combs Company, and Ora’s producers The Runners and The Monarch, its label Roc Nation, songwriter Berry Gordy, and publishers Warner/Chappell Music, Sony/ATV, EMI Music Publishing, Kobalt Music and Downtown Music.

The judge, Alison J. Nathan, dismissed the claim that the use of the phrase was protected under Fair Claim.

She also dismissed it on technical grounds, because some of the defendants had either not been served papers, or had not done so within the legal time.

Biggie’s estate made a song and dance about the court win,given it came the same week of the 21st anniversary of his death.

“This is a well-earned victory for the rstate, and it seems like a message from Christopher (Wallace, the rapper’s birth name) to receive it on the anniversary of his passing,” said the estate’s attorney Julian Petty.

“We’re honoured to represent a client who is willing to fight and defend such an important legacy.”

In an unrelated move, a professional collector has put on the market the cars that Biggie and fellow rap icon Tupac Shakur were killed in drive-by shootings, first Tupac in Las Vegas in September 1998, and Biggie in Los Angeles a year later.

The Biggie car, a GMC Suburban SUV, is priced at US$750,000. Tupac’s death vehicle, a BMW 7 Series, is going for $1.5 million.

Gary Zimet, who founded the memorabilia company Moments In Time said that the BMW had been completely restored and, unfortunately, the bullet holes had been covered.

The car prices are relatively low, he said. In comparison the lost Lincoln Continent that President John F. Kennedy was assassinated in on November 22, 1963, would bring in a minimum of $24 million.