Timbaland Steals Arabic Music

sufi

sufi

lala
from another favorite forum ;) said:
Timbaland.jpg

Timbaland is an American producer who has produced for some of American pop's biggest names: Justin Timberlake, Jay-Z, Nelly Furtado, The Pussycat Dolls, Aaliyah, the list goes on forever!

He has used Arabic music many times, but only used it legally once. This was when he used Warda's "Batwanness Bik" for Aaliyah's "Don't Know What To Tell Ya". He has stolen from Abdelhalim Hafez, Aitha El Menhali and Mayada El Hennawi so far.

Aaliyah - More Than A Woman's credits: here (Timothy Z Mosley is Timbaland, but Tareq Aakef isn't mentioned for Alouli Ansa)

Jay Z - Big Pimpin': here (Shawn C is Jay-Z, he's credited as a writer but Baligh Hamdi wasn't)

Utada Hikaru - Exodus '04: here (No Arab composers there either )

The only legal sampling he did was Don't Know What To Tell Ya: here
Timbaland also stole from Finnish composers for Nelly Furtado's "Do It" and went to court for it.

For the video of Timbaland's stolen Arabic songs: Click Here Credits for the video go to Omernos

Requested by sylph (the original songs that I have):
Warda - Batwanness Bik
Mayada El Hennawi - Alouli Ansa

Last edited by bashizzle : Yesterday at 04:06 PM.
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some interesting issues about authorship & copyright & generally nice linkage for the massive :)
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
Hasn't the opinion on this issue changed since Jay-Z released The Blueprint (pt 1), with all those hugely recognisable samples on it (as I understood it, this was the first album in ages to brazenly use samples in such a way, presumably because Jay-Z/Roc-a-Fella at that point was rich enough not to worry unduly about getting sued), paving the way for Kanye's career etc.

It seems to be an issue with Timbaland because it's cross-cultural 'stealing', perhaps (the fact that he sells so many records inevitably has something to do with it tho); also, maybe because he's sampling heavily from those who haven't got a hope in hell of successfully suing him, due to lack of resources (I'm assuming this is the case).
 
G

gravious

Member
Blackdown said:
Most producers dont credit/licence their samples - is this an issue because Timbaland sells so much?
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Basically.

It seems to be a money/exposure thing. People seem to start getting angry about their music being illegally sampled when it looks like they could get a wad of cash from it...

On the other hand, it could also just be a mass exposure thing. I'd imagine that if the same works were sampled by Joe Bloggs from Scunthorpe, and pressed up on 500 vinyl, the authors of the work would be considerably less likely to find out about it.

But yeah, this isn't exactly a revelation to me I have to say! ;)
 
B

baboon2004

Darned cockwombles.
If the comment about the credits on 'Big Pimpin' ' are true, since when did producers not have to credit sample sources that form the very basis of the new song?
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
also, maybe because he's sampling heavily from those who haven't got a hope in hell of successfully suing him, due to lack of resources (I'm assuming this is the case).
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Not sure this is the case. Though I'm only guessing here, there must be plenty of lawyers who can spot a blatant case when they see one, who could then approach the artists offering some no win, no fee arrangement. If the sampling is as obvious as is implied, then Timbo would lose regardless of the depth of his pocket.

(Dre & Quik were successfully sued over Truth Hurts' Addictive iirc)
 
G

gravious

Member
baboon2004 said:
If the comment about the credits on 'Big Pimpin' ' are true, since when did producers not have to credit sample sources that form the very basis of the new song?
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They still do, legally speaking. But if they are going to use a large sample which they don't have copyright clearance for, they are hardly going to credit it are they?
 
M

mms

sometimes
i dunno what the law is but if you use a sample on a track you are mean't to pay for it, even though you don't have to credit it anymore.
i dunno if the original poster is guessing that the samples have been used illegally, but in the case of the second track i imagine the writer could claim alot, and would have a strong case
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
mms said:
i dunno what the law is but if you use a sample on a track you are mean't to pay for it, even though you don't have to credit it anymore.
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Off topic, but this reminds me of something that's been bugging me for months. I heard dylan's last album when it came out and it has a cover of Muddy Waters' Rolling & Tumbling on it - same tune, though with some different lyrics. But the CD sleeve said 'all songs written by Bob Dylan'. How does that work?
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
I heard dylan's last album when it came out and it has a cover of Muddy Waters' Rolling & Tumbling on it - same tune, though with some different lyrics. But the CD sleeve said 'all songs written by Bob Dylan'. How does that work?
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I'm pretty sure that Muddy Waters didn't write that either. I reckon it's a traditional song or at least the real author is unknown so I guess it's fair game.
I understand that Dylan did that a lot with uncopywrited folk songs.
 
C

crackerjack

Well-known member
IdleRich said:
I'm pretty sure that Muddy Waters didn't write that either. I reckon it's a traditional song or at least the real author is unknown so I guess it's fair game.
I understand that Dylan did that a lot with uncopywrited folk songs.
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Lots of Muddy's songs were written by Willie Dixon...*goes off to check*...the LPs I've got with that track both credit to McKinley Morganfield, Muddy's real name. he died in 83 which should mean it's still copyrighted, I think.
 
IdleRich

IdleRich

IdleRich
A quick google says:

The best known version of this song is by Muddy Waters, but it goes back earlier than that. Hambone Willie Newbern did an early version and is sometimes credited as the author. But it seems likely that its origins predate that.
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From here

http://www3.clearlight.com/~acsa/introjs.htm?/~acsa/songfile/ROLLINTU.HTM

Wikipedia also says HWN recorded it first (in 1929). Maybe Muddy Waters just wrote the most famous words leaving BD to use the pre-existent tune without mentioning Muddy Waters.
 
owengriffiths

owengriffiths

Owen
Id be interested to know what happened with J Dilla's Donuts album, there's certainly no songwriting credits for the sampled songs. And recently a compilation of the original songs was released
 
U

UFO over easy

online mahjong
what producers are meant to do, legally speaking, has never actually translated to reality. the old school hip hop ethic was all about flaunting the rules and doing whatever the fuck you wanted in the name of sick new music; flying in the face of the establishment and the music industry. it's more of an issue with timbaland because he's raking it in, but again, that's the hip hop dream, just like all the kids working on the corners - being able to make money without going through all the crap normal people have to.
 
outraygeous

outraygeous

Well-known member
i didn't read the 1st post but timbaland has also been accused of stealing an 8 bit track from Finland i think. its all over youtube.
 
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