Case: Copyrights/Fair Use (2d Cir.)

Drake didn’t infringe jazz musician Jimmy Smith’s copyright by including Smith’s rap about the supremacy of jazz in his 2013 song “Pound Cake,” the Second Circuit held. Smith’s estate sued Drake for including his 1982 “rap” in “Pound Cake” without a license. A federal district court in New York ruled that Drake’s use of the sample was protected by the fair use doctrine, and Second Circuit affirmed, finding that Drake transformed Smith’s “Jimmy Smith Rap” by using it to send a “counter message—that it is not jazz music that reigns supreme, but rather all ‘real music,’ regardless of genre.” Drake’s ...