Addressing an unusual but high-profile copyright dispute involving famous rappers, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit granted summary judgment for rapper Curtis Jackson (a.k.a. 50 Cent) on claims that he infringed the copyright for the song "Its Your Birthday" by rapper Luther Campbell of 2 Live Crew. Lil’ Joe Wein Music, Inc. v. C. J. Jackson, a.k.a. 50 Cent, Case No. 06-16342 2007 U.S. App. LEXIS 19165 (unpublished) (11th Cir., Aug. 9, 2007) (per curiam).
Campbell wrote the lyrics to the song "Its Your Birthday" in 1994, including the phrase "Go ___, it’s your birthday" repeated with various proper names used in succession. The plaintiff, Lil’ Joe Wein Music, acquired the copyrights at a bankruptcy sale. The defendant, Jackson, in his hit song "In Da Club," which was released in 2003, includes lyrics containing "It’s your birthday … we gon’ party like it’s yo birthday … we gon’ sip Bacardi like it’s your birthday." The Eleventh Circuit stated that in order for the plaintiff to prove that defendant Jackson copied elements of the work that are original, or failing such evidence of copying, that the works are "substantially similar".
The court held that copyright protection may extend only to those components of a work that are original to the author. Only certain elements of the "Its Your Birthday" song were found to be copyrightable and protectible. The court then discussed whether the "Go ___, it’s your birthday" chant constituted original and protectible work. The court stated that a "hip hop chant" such as this "is a form of audience engagement staged by the performer (mc, dj or rapper) who provides a familiar phrase or saying, often in call and response format, designed to energize, include, affirm and engage the audience." The court noted that the author of the song, Campbell, admitted that he did not create the phrase, borrowing it from popular chants at the time. The court, citing several pop culture references, also confirmed that "Go ___, it’s your birthday" was used by several third parties who were not pursued by plaintiff, casting doubt on its claim that its work was entitled to protection.
The court held that the "Go ___, it’s your birthday" was a common, unoriginal and non-copyrightable element of the song and not entitled to copyright protection. Since outside of the phrase there was no similarity between the songs, the court granted summary judgment for the defendant.
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