A Manhattan federal judge has dismissed the copyright infringement lawsuit against musician-actor-writer-comedian Donald Glover (aka Childish Gambino) for his 2018 record, “This is America.”
Billboard reported that Judge Victor Marrero announced that a “comparison with the challenged composition reveals that the content of the choruses is entirely different and not substantially similar.”
Marrero, also played the role of music critic, observing that Emelike Nqosuocha’s (the artist who filed the lawsuit) lyrics were “short, simple, self-aggrandizing proclamation unlike Gambino’s lyrics, which touched on what “America means to and how it is perceived.”
According to HypeBeast, Nwosuocha filed the suit nearly two years ago, claiming Glover’s “This Is America,” a massive hit, infringed on the copyright of his own cut “Made in America,” which was first uploaded on SoundCloud in 2016.
“Mr. Nwosuocha is understandably disappointed, and is considering an appeal of the decision,” Nwosuocha’s attorneys, Imran H. Ansari and La’Shawn N. Thomas, said in a statement to Pitchfork. “He stands by his music, creativity, and the independence of grassroots artists to create their own music, and receive credit where credit is due, without the fear of it being apportioned by another.”
Meanwhile, in the winner’s corner, Glover’s attorney, Jonathan D. Davis, said to Pitchfork, “We are very grateful for the court’s decision. No case existed here, as there was no infringement—let alone a copyright registration. That was obvious from a simple comparison of the two songs and a review of the U.S. Copyright Office records.”
Back in 2021, Nwosuocha, who raps under the name Kidd Wes, filed a lawsuit saying the “The Power” rapper copied his song, “Made in America.” Kidd Wes alleged that Gambino’s hook on “This is America” was “unmistakably substantially similar, if not practically identical.”
“No case existed here, as there was no infringement—let alone a copyright registration,” Davis said. “That was obvious from a simple comparison of the two songs and a review of the U.S. Copyright Office records.”