New York jazz musician Abdul Wali Muhammad (formerly Eric P. Saunders) reportedly filed a federal lawsuit for copyright infringement on Tuesday (September 12) against Chance the Rapper. The suit alleges Chano used some of Muhammad’s work for his 2012 debut mixtape, 10 Day, without permission.
The song in question is Chance’s track “Windows” featuring Alex Wiley. Muhammad claims the song contains samples of Lonnie Liston Smith’s 1980 song “Bridge Through Time,” which Muhammad has a copyright claim for he obtained in 1979.
According to the eight-page complaint obtained by Billboard, Muhammad’s legal team tried to fix things with Chance in May before heading to court, but they never heard back. They accuse Chance of failing and refusing “to take any action to halt access to the infringing song.”
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Chance is known for putting out his projects for free, but in January, 10 Day was mistakenly put up on iTunes and Apple Music along with Acid Rap. Both projects had never been for sale until then.
Chance addressed the issue on Twitter when it happened.
10day was fraudulently put on iTunes and applemusic. It'll be down shortly. 10day and acid rap will always be inclusive, elusive and free
— Lil Chano From 79th (@chancetherapper) January 8, 2017
Neither 10 Day or Acid Rap is currently on iTunes or Apple Music.
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“Windows” actually samples Apollo Brown’s version of “Bridge Through Time” and Brown is credited as the producer of the song.
Muhammad’s original version has been sampled by many other artists, including JAY-Z, UGK and Big K.R.I.T.
Compare Chance the Rapper’s “Windows” to Muhammad’s “Bridge Through Time” below and let us know what you think.
