Jay-Z is fighting a legal case over the supposed use of sampling on his 2009 track Run This Town.
Record label TufAmerica is suing for the use of the single-syllable sample "oh" from Eddie Bo's 1969 single Hook and Sling.
Website Techdirt obtained case documents that argued Jay-Z used an unlicensed "oh" TufAmerica sample and are seeking back royalties as well as damages. The label previously sued Kanye West for sampling the same song.
"Even if one short word - or the recording thereof - could possibly be deemed original enough to warrant copyright protection, this fleeting and generic phrase is neither quantitatively nor qualitatively significant," a passage from the defendants' legal filing states.
Jay Z's legal representatives have responded to the allegations by saying that ownership cannot be placed on a single syllable.
What do you think?
Here's Eddie Bo's Hook and Sling:
