Another W in the courtroom for Hov. This time around an artist tried suing him and others for stealing his song that he thinks sounds strikingly similar to “Made In America”.
According to Pitchfork, singer/songwriter Joel McDonald aka Joel Mac filed a lawsuit in 2014 for The Throne jacking his song “Made In America” for their “Watch The Throne” album.
In the recent ruling, The Second Circuit Court agreed with the district court’s decision in September of last year to dismiss the suit because McDonald didn’t have a strong enough case. The original judge said the songs weren’t similar enough to have copyright infringement:
“We have considered all of McDonald’s arguments and find them to be without merit.”
Mike Dean, Def Jam, Roc Nation and Roc-A-Fella Records were also all named in the suit. Jay-Z was also sued for another song from that album, “The Joy”, where he had to reach a settlement with blues singer Syl Johnson after he accused them of using a sample without clearance.
