According to Pitchfork, a copyright infringement lawsuit that was filed against Donald Glover (also known as Childish Gambino) in 2021 over his song “This Is America” has been dismissed by a New York federal court.
The lawsuit was filed by rapper Kidd Wes (born with his legal name Emelike Wesley Nwosuocha), who claimed that Glover’s song infringed on his own 2016 song “Made in America.” However, the judge dismissed the lawsuit with prejudice to leave to amend, meaning that Kidd Wes is considering an appeal.
According to the statement made available, Kidd Wes’ attorneys, Imran H. Ansari and La’Shawn N. Thomas, wrote that their client stands by his music and creativity and believes that grassroots artists should be able to create their own music without fear of it being appropriated by others.
The dismissal by Judge Victor Marrero noted that Kidd Wes did not obtain a compositional copyright registration in addition to his sound recording copyright.
Furthermore, even if he had a copyright registration for the composition of his song, the elements of his composition purportedly infringed upon are not sufficiently original to warrant protection or are not substantially similar to “This Is America.”
The judge also noted differences in the lyrics and themes of the two songs and concluded that no more discussion was needed to resolve the case.
Jonathan D. Davis, the attorney representing Donald Glover in the copyright infringement lawsuit filed by Kidd Wes, expressed gratitude for the court’s decision and stated that there was no infringement case as there was no copyright registration. He added that it was evident from a simple comparison of the two songs and a review of the U.S. Copyright Office records.
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Apart from Glover, the lawsuit also named “This Is America” co-writer Young Thug, “This Is America” producer Lüdwig Goransson, and several record and publishing companies as defendants.
You can listen to both songs and compare them to see if there are any similarities between Childish Gambino’s “This Is America” and Kidd Wes’s “Made In America” song.
Childish Gambino – This Is America
Kidd Wes – Made In America
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