A gaggle of lecturers are urging the courtroom to dismiss Drake’s defamation case in opposition to Common Music Group over Kendrick Lamar’s Not Like Us, arguing that taking rap lyrics as factual threatens freedom of speech and dangers a miscarriage of justice.
In a proposed amicus transient despatched on Wednesday (Could 14) to federal courtroom choose Jeannette A. Vargas, the 4 students, all linked to the College of California–Irvine, warned of “the harms that come up when courts deal with rap lyrics confessions or factual representations.”
Drake filed a defamation lawsuit in opposition to Common Music Group earlier this yr over Kendrick Lamar’s diss monitor Not Like Us, arguing that UMG “determined to publish, promote, exploit and monetize allegations that it understood weren’t solely false, however harmful.”
Lamar’s music is distributed by UMG’s Interscope label, whereas Drake is signed to UMG’s Republic Data.
Drake later filed an amended criticism, including allegations linked to Lamar’s efficiency of Not Like Us at this yr’s Tremendous Bowl. UMG responded with a movement to dismiss the case, which is being heard on the US District for the Southern District of New York, arguing that Lamar’s lyrics are “nonactionable opinion and rhetorical hyperbole.”
The UC–Irvine students largely agreed with that evaluation.
“Drake’s defamation declare rests on the belief that each phrase of Not Like Us ought to be taken actually, as a factual illustration,” they wrote of their proposed transient, which could be learn in full right here.
“This assumption isn’t just defective—it’s harmful. When rap lyrics are admitted [as evidence in a case], it’s as a result of they’re handled as literal. This in flip opens the door to racial bias and stereotypes into the courtroom, as empirical research have demonstrated. Treating rap lyrics as literal additionally threatens First Modification speech protections, and the apply already has created a demonstrable chilling impact throughout the business.”
They argue that diss tracks “are understood by audiences to not characterize factual assertions concerning the opposing artist, however reasonably to display talent and dominance meant to construct allegiance and win competitions by means of intelligent wordplay, hyperbole, bluster, and demonstrations of disrespect.”
“Drake’s defamation declare rests on the belief that each phrase of Not Like Us ought to be taken actually, as a factual illustration. This assumption isn’t just defective—it’s harmful.”
Proposed amicus transient from UC-Irvine students in Drake v. UMG
The proposed transient factors to many cases the place rappers constructed fictional personae round themselves for the sake of business success, noting, for instance, that Jay-Z got here to prominence by means of rap battles within the Nineteen Nineties with Tupac, Nas, and Mobb Deep.
They word that rapper Curtis Jackson, aka 50 Cent, mentioned of his monitor Excessive All The Time: “I don’t drink and I don’t use medication, and I didn’t again then both. I put that joint on the primary file as a result of I noticed artists persistently promoting 500,000 with that content material.”
“Fabricating felony actions to take care of a troublesome picture [are] a typical apply within the rap business,” the students famous.
“Lots of the conflicts or ‘beefs’ between rival rappers are created as publicity stunts to boost flagging careers and gross sales, or create curiosity in new releases.”
Additionally they argued that treating rap lyrics as factual “threatens to undermine vital civil and constitutional rights” and “makes it extra possible that rap lyrics might be exploited to introduce prejudice and racial bias in different instances.”
The lecturers who signed on to the transient embody Charis Kubrin, a professor of regulation and criminology; Jack Lerner, a scientific professor of regulation specializing in mental property, media regulation, and freedom of expression; Adam Dunbar, an assistant professor within the felony justice division of the College of Nevada–Reno; and Kyle Winnen, a doctoral scholar at UC–Irvine’s regulation and criminology college.
In a memorandum in help of its movement to dismiss the case, UMG asserted that Drake’s lawsuit is an “try to avoid wasting face for his unsuccessful rap battle with Lamar.”
Regardless of the authorized dispute, UMG mentioned in a press release to MBW that it “stay[s] dedicated to propelling Drake’s profession whereas sustaining our unwavering help of all our artists’ artistic expression. Drake’s included.”Music Enterprise Worldwide
