Friday 3 July 2009

"Done it?"

Hit-making producer Timbaland and Canadian/Portuguese pop star Nelly Furtado are facing a copyright infringement claim from a Finnish record label, musicradar.com reports.


Their hit "Do It", which appears on Furtado's multi-platinum album Loose, is alleged to contain elements of the song "Acidjazzed Evening", originally composed in 2000 as a computer recording by Janne Suni, a Finnish demoscener [what's that?]. The song was subsequently re-recorded by Norwegian musician Glenn Rune Gallefoss and Kernel Records acquired rights in the track in 2007. Kernel filed a claim against Timbaland and his record label in the Miami-Dade Division of the US District Court Southern District of Florida on 11 June.

The claim cites elements of a 2007 radio interview, in which Timbaland reportedly responded to the allegations saying:


That mess is so ridiculous ... It’s from a video game, idiot. Sample and stole is two different things. Stole is like I walked in your house, watched you make it, stole your protools, went to my house and told Nelly, ‘Hey, I got a great song for you.’ Sample is like you heard it somewhere, and you just sampled. Maybe you didn’t know who it was by because it don’t have the credits listed [sic]”


Timbaland reportedly went on to explain that he did appreciate the possibility that someone might bring a copyright claim, but that it was unclear whether or not the sound he utilised was public domain.


So did they "Do It"? Why not judge for yourself?

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