People are saying that Wu-Tang Clan’s “People Say” is a ripoff. At least, three people are saying it in a lawsuit filed by Wu-Tang producer Mathematics.
In a suit filed Friday in federal court in New York, Samuel Culley, Thomas Price and Ervan Waters, of the 1960s group The Diplomats, say that the 2017 track from the hip-hop group infringes on their 1969 song “I’ve Got the Kind of Love.”
According to the suit, “People Say’ reproduces, and constitutes a derivative work based upon, Plaintiffs’ composition ‘I’ve Got The Kind of Love.’”
“Throughout its duration, ‘People Say’ contains and embodies multiple recognizable and protectable elements of Plaintiffs’ ‘I’ve Got The Kind of Love,’” the suit reads. “These original, protectable elements include but are not limited to the melody, chords, lyrics, instrumentation, and rhythmic elements of ‘I’ve Got The Kind of Love.’ (Even the title ‘People Say’ is a lyric from ‘I’ve Got The Kind of Love.’)”
The suit goes on to say that the songs are so similar that “ordinary observers have publicly commented on the usage and/or similarity.”
TheWrap has reached out to a spokeswoman for Wu-Tang Clan for comment on the lawsuit.
Alleging copyright infringement, the suit seeks unspecified damages.
Listen to “People Say” and “I’ve Got the Kind of Love” below and draw your own conclusions.
Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.