(AllHipHop News) Rap group Migos have emerged victorious over claims they stole their song “Walk It, Talk It.”
A judge in the case has ruled against rapper M.O.S., who sued the group in October of 2018.
Although he never gave a copy to the group, M.O.S. claimed reps at Migos’ label Quality Control could have easily had access to his version of the song.
A judge said none of that really mattered, because the phrase is so popular, that no one can claim ownership of the saying.
“Because songwriters must be free to borrow sayings and expressions from popular culture, the Second Circuit and courts in this district have found that short and commonplace phrases are not protectable, even when used as the title or repeated lyrics of a song, as is the case here,” Judge Analisa Torres ruled.
Judge Torres also cited several rappers who have used the phrase repeatedly in their songs, way before Migos released their song in March of 2018.
She noted Paul Wall’s 2005 song “March ‘n’ Step” Young Jeezy’s 2006 song “3 A.M.” and Wiz Khalifa’s 2007 song “Be Easy,” which all make repeated use of the phrase “walk it like I talk it.”
“The only similarity between the two works at issue, the lyrics “walk it like I talk it,” is not original to the author and is, therefore, not protected by the copyright laws,” Judge Torres ruled.
M.O.S. also had an unsurmountable flaw in his lawsuit, because he failed to register a copyright for his version of “Walk It, Talk It” until March of 2018, after the release of Culture II.
“As courts in this district have held, a copyright infringement claim will be dismissed where the allegedly infringed work, in this case, the musical composition, was not registered at the time the original complaint was filed.”
Case closed.
