27 February 2019
Newsdesk
Nicki Minaj is fighting back over allegations of copyright infringement from singer Tracy Chapman.
The rapper delayed the release of her album Queen by a week back in August (18), in the hopes of scoring Chapman's permission to sample her 1988 song Baby Can I Hold You on the track Sorry.
When it became clear the two sides were unlikely to reach an agreement, the Anaconda hitmaker had no choice but to pull the tune, which featured ex-boyfriend Nas, from the album, but, before the final decision was made, New York DJ Funkmaster Flex got hold of a copy of Sorry and posted it on social media, prompting Minaj to write the now-deleted tweet, "Sis said no", suggesting Chapman didn't like the idea of her song being used on a rap track.
The Fast Car singer subsequently launched legal action against Minaj in October (18), when she also requested an injunction prohibiting the hip-hop star from using the tune again, and asked for unspecified damages.
Nicki has now responded to the lawsuit by insisting she did nothing wrong, arguing the sample falls under the fair use category of copyright law. She admits to recording Sorry before gaining clearance, but previously insisted she had no idea it featured a sample, and states that when she found out, her managers tried multiple times to gain Chapman's approval.
Minaj goes on to claim that the singer/songwriter no longer owns the rights to Baby Can I Hold You, and is seeking to have the whole case dismissed, reports The Blast.
