Tracy Chapman Wins Copyright Infringement Case Against Nicki Minaj

Rapper Nicki Minaj is paying the sum of $450,000 to music legend Tracy Chapman in a copyright infringement case. In 2018, singer-songwriter Tracy Chapman sued Nicki Minaj over her leaked song Sorry; which contained an unauthorized sample of Chapman’s track Baby Can I Hold You.

They resolved the case in December with Minaj agreeing to pay Chapman a $450,000 offer of judgement. An attorney for Minaj said to Pitchfork in a statement: “We settled for one reason only. It would have cost us more to go to trial.”

Listen to Baby Can I Hold You below:

Sorry was never officially released by Minaj and all copies have been removed from YouTube because of the lawsuit. Before the release of her 2018 album Queen, Minaj said that issues with clearing the sample for the song would delay the album’s release (the song did not appear on Queen‘s tracklist).

Chapman launched her lawsuit soon after Funkmaster Flex leaked Sorry on his website; in her response to Chapman’s infringement lawsuit, Minaj claimed the sample was covered under the doctrine of fair use.

Minaj secured a court ruling in her favour last year when a judge ruled in September that she had not breached Chapman’s copyright with Sorry.