Childish Gambino has scored another — and potentially conclusive — victory in a copyright dispute over his hit single “This is America.”
The multi-hyphenate was previously accused of plagiarism by rapper Kidd Wes, who claimed Gambino ripped off his track “Made in America,” which was released two years earlier.
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Last year, a district court dismissed the case on the grounds that Kidd Wes had only registered the copyright in the song’s recording, and had not registered the underlying composition.
The court also ruled that the parts of the two songs that were similar are “insufficiently original to warrant protection” under copyright law, but Wes appealed the decision.
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According to Music Business Worldwide, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit agreed with the earlier ruling that there was no copyright for the composition underlying Kidd Wes’ “Made In America.”
In the original court documents filed in 2021, Kidd Wes argued that Childish Gambino’s “flow” on “This is America” is eerily similar to the flow he used on “Made in America.”
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Wes cited his own lyrics: “Made in America/ Flex on the radio/ Made me a terrorist/ Pessimistic n-ggas?/ You should just cherish this” and compared them to Gambino’s: “This is America/ Guns in my area/ I got the strap/ I gotta carry ’em.”
Wes also insisted there were “scientific similarities” in both tracks and claimed that Childish Gambino intentionally ripped him off.
Consequently, he was seeking major damages from Gambino, as well as the co-writers of “This is America,” Roc Nation and Young Thug, who contributed background vocals on the track.
“This Is America” also featured vocals from Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd, BlocBoy JB, Quavo and 21 Savage but they were not named in the lawsuit.
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Judge Victor Marrero ruled that the songs themselves aren’t similar, regardless of whether Kidd Wes had the proper registration documents or not.
“Even if Kidd Wes had a copyright registration for the composition of Childish Gambino’s Composition, however, dismissal would be warranted here because the elements of Childish Gambino’s Composition purportedly infringed upon are insufficiently original to warrant protection, or because they are not substantially similar to the Challenged Composition,” the judge said, per court records.
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Gambino’s “This Is America” debuted at No. 1 the Billboard Hot 100 in May 2018 and has since been certified 5x platinum. It also won Record of the Year, Song of the Year, Best Rap/Sung Performance and Best Music Video at the 2019 Grammy Awards.
