Musician claims Spike Lee and Prince copied the song for ‘Girl 6’
Oscar winner Spike Lee and late singer Prince copied the title song to the film “Girl 6” from another artist, a copyright infringement suit claimed this week.
The ex-manager of a music group filed the complaint at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York yesterday, February 28, against Lee, and Prince’s estate.
James Brandon, who managed the group GOMAB in 1993, claimed that Lee and Prince wilfully infringed his copyright by copying the group’s song without his approval.
According to the document, in 1993, GOMAB wrote and produced the song “Phone sex”.
Brandon said that shortly after in 1994, he met with Lee’s uncle, Clarence Lee, who showed interest in the song.
He said the song was then forwarded to the soundtrack coordinator of “Girl 6” and Spike Lee, but he did not hear from them.
Brandon said the film’s title song shares “substantial and significant similarities” with “Phone sex”.
According to the complaint, Brandon’s song contains a “two-word, two-pitch hook, containing the lyrics ‘phone sex’, beginning on the fourth beat and ending on the first beat”.
Similarly, the title song of “Girl 6” contains a “two-word, two-pitch hook, with the lyrics ‘girls six’, beginning on the fourth beat and ending on the first beat”, the complaint said.
In addition, Brandon said the words “sex” and “six” contain “identical consonants” and that the trumpet arrangement the song for “Girl 6” directly copies that of “Phone sex”.
Did you enjoy reading this story? Sign up to our free daily newsletters and get stories like this sent straight to your inbox.
Today's top stories:
Biker trademark cannot be part of criminal forfeiture, court rules
Maxell and Asus to settle smartphone patent dispute
