Mystikal wins Cajun copyright case

August 25, 2003

From down in New Orleans it seems that the popular rapper Mystikal has won an important court battle that went all the way to a federal appeals court. Apparently some lyrics in one of his songs were "copyrighted Cajun".

Grammy-nominated rapper Mystikal did not break copyright laws when he used two Cajun sayings in one of his songs, a federal appeals court has ruled.

Emanation Inc. sued Mystikal's record label, Zomba Recording Inc., in 2001 claiming it owned the copyright to the phrases.Emanation makes a hand-held toy called "Cajun in Your Pocket" that plays several Cajun phrases, and got a copyright for the word arrangements on Dec. 13, 2000.

The 5th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled Wednesday that Mystikal, whose real name is Michael Tyler, did not infringe on the company's copyright in his 2000 song "Shake Ya Ass."

The appeals court agreed with a district judge,
ruling that the sayings '” "We gon pass a good time, yeah, cher," and "You
gotta suck da head on dem der crawfish" '” are not original and therefore
are not protected under copyright laws.

Makes one wonder how Emanation obtained the
copyright to begin with. Mystikals record "Tarantula" was nominated for a best
rap album Grammy in January. Congratulations on the lawsuit
Mystikal!

Source: news.yahoo.com