By: Jacoby Miles (Decemeber 20, 2011)

After being accused by Syl Johnson for using an unauthorized sample of his work on Kanye West and Jay-Z’s track, “The Joy,” the duo responded back to the lawsuit against them, Universal Music Group, and Def Jam this past Thursday. Johnson proclaimed that West desired to use the sample for his album, “My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy,” but the defendant was unsuccessful in acquiring the rights by the time of the album was released. Nonetheless, West is said to have simply taken the sample and used it on his collaboration album with Jay-Z entitled “Watch the Throne.” Thus, West is accused by Johnson’s attorney’s of knowingly and willfully misappropriation for using the sample without authorization.

The duo stated that they intend to fight the charges made against them and questioned whether or not Johnson’s sound recording was protected under federal copyright laws since it was produced before 1972 when the suspected law did not cover sound recordings. The defendants did not acknowledge that they did use the sample, but claimed that they are protected from the allegations regardless if they used the sample or not. The attorney representing the artists issued the following: “Any claim based on the alleged use of Plaintiffs' recording is is barred because, inter alia, (a) the allegedly copied portion of the Plaintiff's recording is not part of the musical composition; and, if it is part of the composition, (b) is not protectable and/or (c) any use was de minimus.” We will keep you up-to-date on this continuing legal scuffle.