‘The Weeknd’ Sued for Stealing Song
Hip hop singer The Weeknd is being sued for copyright infringement. Cutting Edge Music alleges The Weeknd stole the baseline in “The Hills” from a score in the 2013 sci-fi movie The Machine. CEM has a solid case because the lawsuit stems from a Twitter direct message sent from Emmanuel “Million Dollar Mano” Nickerson, a producer on “The Hills,” to Tom Raybould, who scored The Machine. Raybould alleges Nickerson sent him, “I sampled your music might make it 2 the weeknd next album. Huge fan of what u did 4 the machine movie!” on Mar. 9. “The Hills” was released on The Weeknd’s Beauty Behind the Madness album on May 27. Defendants listed in the lawsuit include Abel Makkonen Tesfaye (also known as The Weeknd), Nickerson, Universal Music Group, Republic Records, Sony/ATV Music Publishing, among others.
“The Hills” topped the Billboard Top-100 charts when it was released and has over 425 million views on YouTube.
Nashville Entertainment Law
As the country music capital of the world, Nashville is a place where artists alike come in hopes of becoming famous. However, the Internet has allowed the entertainment industry to evolve, so music is easily shareable without payment, which is not right. Areas of entertainment law include intellectual property, employment law, contract law, immigration law, trademark and copyright law, defamation, securities law, international law and negotiation.
Hire Nashville Entertainment Attorney
With the invention of the Internet, sharing music has become much easier, and it allows artists to get cheated out of money. It is important to hire an experienced attorney to represent you so you are compensated for your work. At Turner Law Offices, P.C., we have over 20 years of experience in handling entertainment law cases. We only represent artists and performers, not companies and managers. Call our office or go online for a Free Initial Consultation today!
