March 30th 2024.
A young rapper known as Trefuego, who has gained popularity on the social media platform TikTok, recently found himself in a legal battle with Sony Music. It all started when the music giant sued him in 2021 for copyright infringement. The case came to a close in March 2022, with the judge ordering Trefuego to pay Sony over $800,000 in damages for using one of their songs without permission in his own track.
According to the music industry publication Billboard, Trefuego, whose real name is Dantreal Daevon Clark-Rainbolt, was sued by Sony for using a sample from a Japanese instrumental song called "Reflections." The song was released in 1986 and Trefuego used it in his own song, "90mh," without obtaining proper clearance from the label. The judge, Mark T. Pittman, stated in his decision that he hopes this case serves as a lesson for Trefuego to be more careful in selecting the materials he includes in his music.
The $802,997.23 that Trefuego has been ordered to pay includes the approximate $700,000 he earned from streaming platforms like Spotify, as well as the $100,000 Sony was entitled to in licensing fees. Additionally, the judge has ordered ongoing royalties to be paid to Sony, including half of the publishing revenue and a 20% cut of recording revenue. Trefuego is also responsible for repaying the $2,230 in legal costs incurred by Sony during this process.
Sony first contacted Trefuego in January of 2021, informing him of the uncleared sample in his song. Despite this warning, Trefuego did not remove the song and Sony had to file takedown requests in August of 2022. The lawsuit was finally launched in December of that year.
The song in question, "90mh," went viral on both TikTok and YouTube, gaining over 170 million streams on Spotify. Music Business Worldwide reported that Trefuego had sampled and looped the Japanese composer Toshifumi Hinata's song "Reflections" for his own track.
Judge Pittman allowed Sony to reach out to Trefuego through his social media accounts since he had not responded to their previous attempts to contact him. In his decision, the judge stated that it was reasonable for Sony to pursue this case and that Trefuego's attempts to avoid service and communication only caused delays and increased costs for the music company.
It may be worth noting that this is not the first time a musician has faced legal action for using uncleared samples in their music. In the past, artists like Ozzy Osbourne have taken issue with others sampling their work without permission. In fact, Osbourne even issued a cease-and-desist order against Kanye West for sampling a Black Sabbath song in one of his tracks. These cases serve as reminders to all musicians to be mindful of copyright laws and to obtain proper permission before using any material in their work.
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