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Judge Throws Out Copyright Lawsuit Against The Migos Over 'Walk It Talk It'

Last October, another rapper claimed the trio plagiarized his 2008 single.

The Migos year-long legal battle over their hit “Walk It Talk It” has been put to rest. In a decision handed down in court on Tuesday (Nov. 13), Judge Analisa Torres shot down a copyright lawsuit from rapper M.O.S, born Leander Pickett.

  • In October, the North Carolina-based MC claimed the trio’s Drake-assisted single is a rip-off of his 2007 song “Walk It Like I Talk It.” In his complaint, Pickett alleged the Migos had plagiarized the song’s titular lyrics, according to court documents obtained by Billboard.

  • While Torres agreed there were similarities between the two songs (the phrase is literally the entire chorus of “Walk It Talk It”), she ultimately ruled that his claim does not fall under copyright protection, as it’s a “commonplace” phrase that has been used in other pre-existing records, such as Paul Wall’s “March ‘n’ Step” (2005), Jeezy’s “3 A.M.” (2006) and Wiz Khalifa’s “Be Easy” (2007). 

     

  • Torres also pointed out that Pickett didn’t have any grounds to sue the Migos, as he didn’t attempt to copyright the song before he filed his lawsuit, so the case wouldn’t have been able to move forward even if he had been the originator of the phrase.

  • According to TMZ, Pickett reportedly didn’t file a copyright registration until March 2018, which was after the Migos rolled out the song with their Culture II EP. Since his song’s release in 2007, Pickett had over a decade to copyright the phase.

    Pickett's attorney, Dana Whitfield, told Billboard the rapper is "exploring options for an appeal.”

     

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