By: Amanda Anderson-Niles
Nicki Minaj may be the leading lady of the female rap game as of now, but it has not been a smooth ride for the female emcee in the least bit. With the kind of massive success that comes with being a star in the music industry, it’s probably expected that the rapper would end up dealing with legal troubles as many music artists do these days. As we recently reported, Nicki was just slapped with a copyright infringement lawsuit. A Chicago artist by the name of Clive Tanaka is claiming Nicki and her collaborators ripped off his song “Neu Chicago” to make her hit song “Starships.”
While there are many who claim they don’t hear similarities in the song enough to warrant the lawsuit, those in the legal field claim that Nicki could stand to lose a lot of money and time if she decided to take the battle to court. In fact, a legal expert tells SOHH that she’d be better off settling the case outside of court and just forking over some cash to move on from the lawsuit. Kent Zimmermann says:
“Minaj has a decision to make, which is whether to fight this claim or settle it. Fighting will take time and money. If she fights, it could very well be a protracted legal battle. Some defendants in her shoes would settle to avoid the nuisance and cost of having to defend the case. If the plaintiff pursues this all the way to trial, which is possible, it could take years of pre-trial discovery, including depositions of Minaj and others. If [plaintiff Clive] Tanaka can prove his case, he stands to win significant money damages, partially because of the commercial success of the song at issue.”
Nicki’s camp still has not released a statement on the lawsuit as of yet.
Nope she should fight it all the way because they do NOT sound alike!
You would say that boo. LOL.
In other words, it’s cheaper to settle now than drag this out. Makes sense.
Man that guy just wanted his 15 minutes. Nicki shouldn’t give him a dime. Go to court. The songs don’t sound the same anyway.
Well Nicki has made a whole career from copyright infringement, so she should not be shocked by this lawsuit. Just pay up.
FYI, yall give Lil Kim way too much credit. She was not original and Biggie invented her and wrote her rhymes. At least Nicki writes her own ish and built her career on her own.
Lil Kim is washed up. They just don’t know how to let go of their childhood! Out with old and in with the new. I’m sure yall can still buy her mixtape on Paypal though. LOL!
I don’t understand how you think she’s built a career off of copyright infringement. All Nicki’s music is hers. This dude is trying to just claim Nicki’s song as his so he can try to make money where he’s losing it everywhere else. I’d fight it.
I think she just needs to cough up the cash. They do sound alike IMHO.
I still don’t think he has a case.
Settle for what? The songs do not sound alike. This is just a publicity stunt and Nicki shouldn’t give him a dime.
No case!
He will lose. She needs to take it all the way to court.
I don’t think she should cave she should fight because it will be an uphill battle for the plaintiff all the pressure is on the plaintiff to prove beyond a reasonable doubt. And you also have to look at it’s not only Nicki that will lose money it will be the label, producers and others. Labels are not in the business of losing money so they will have pitbull lawyers trying to protect their cash cow Nicki. I watch Law & Order 5 times a week Ha!
I think Nicki should fight it to prove a point but I doubt she will. Who would sit in court for months trying to defend one song when you could be in the studio recording 10? Nicki may lose simpy because she got tired of showing up to court and stopped