Jay Z is undefeated in court this week as a judge threw out the case from label TufAmerica that claims Jay Z and his crew used an illegal sample for its 2009 hit "Run This Town" (from Billboard). The lawsuit received many a narrowed eyebrow over its claims that the song sampled the phrase "oh," specifically the "oh" featured on the Eddie Bo recording "Hook & Sling Part 1," versus any other "oh" uttered by any other performer in the history of recorded music.
"The word 'oh' is a single and commonplace word. Standing alone, it likely is not deserving of copyright protection... As this motion may be resolved on other grounds, however, the Court need not decide whether the word 'oh,' as it appears in the Composition, is protectable," Judge Lewis Kaplan said, confirming what many already assumed. "Were the Court to find 'oh' quantitatively significant to 'Hook & Sling Part I' or to Eddie Bo's performance thereof, it in effect would read the quantitative significance element out of the substantial similarity test. This the Court will not do."
In summation, it's tough (but not impossible, as Kaplan also noted) to sue for copyright infringement based on one syllable. If it were to work, TufAmerica would have had to demonstrate that the "oh" was both highly significant in Bo's work and Jay Z's work, of which it is neither. Future lawsuit advice: Write a song titled "Oh" and feature nothing but the lyrics "oh oh oh" and then you'll be set for suing. You'll also be unable to find a label so moot point.
That's the second time Hov has come out clean in court this week, as a magistrate decided he wouldn't be deposed for a lawsuit claiming his Roc Nation label stole its logo.
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