Nicki Minaj Agrees To Pay Tracy Chapman $450K in Copyright Infringement Settlement

Nicki Minaj Agrees To Pay Tracy Chapman $450K in Copyright Infringement Settlement

Nicki Minaj will pay American singer/songwriter Tracy Chapman $450,000. According to reports, an agreement has been reached in Tracy Chapman’s copyright lawsuit against Nicki Minaj. According to court documents released on January 7th, Tracy Chapman accepted Nicki Minaj’s offer of judgment on their ongoing copyright dispute. This means the two won’t proceed to a trial later on this year. In addition to the $450,000, the ‘Super Bass’ rapper also agreed to pay Tracy Chapman’s legal fees.

Nicki Minaj

As we previously reported, the drama between the two ladies started in 2018 after radio personality Funkmaster Flex played Nicki Minaj’s unreleased song ‘Sorry’ on the radio which was initially meant for the Queen album. The problem here however is that the song is based on Tracy Chapman’s ‘Baby Can I Hold You’ and Chapman never gave Nicki Minaj the green light for her work to be used.

Last September news broke that a judge sided with Nicki Minaj in her legal battle with Tracy Chapman. On September 17th, 2020 it was ruled that Nicki Minaj didn’t commit copyright infringement for her unreleased song Sorry. The judge wrote,

“Artists usually experiment with works before seeking licenses from rights holders and rights holders typically ask to see a proposed work before approving a license. A ruling uprooting these common practices would limit creativity and stifle innovation within the music industry.”

Even though the judge ruled in Nicki Minaj’s favor a trial was still pending to determine the all facts surrounding the leak and the distribution of the song in question.

What are your thoughts on this settlement? Let us know in the comments.