Cameo Clips

Chain of Song Ownership

The U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Illinois, Eastern Division, denied a copyright-infringement defense motion for summary judgment by citing a genuine issue of material fact as to ownership of the rights at issue. Johnson v. Cypress Hill, 03 C 9452. The disputed issue revolves around the demise of the independent label Twinight Records, which dissolved in 1978. In fact, the case demonstrates the difficulty of determining conflicting small-label ownership years later. The defendants claim that plaintiff Syl Johnson signed a recording agreement with Twinight in 1967 that gave the record label 'the unlimited right, from time to time, to manufacture, by any method now or hereafter known, phonograph records and other reproductions on any mediums or devices now or hereafter known, of the compositions performed by you and recorded hereunder, and to sell, transfer or otherwise deal in the same throughout the world under any trade-marks, trade names and labels.' Johnson denies signing the agreement, but nevertheless claims he owned 25% of Twinight. Johnson also claims he co-wrote the 1968 song, 'Is It Because I'm Black?' The instrumental portion of the song was allegedly used without permission as the 1993 release, 'Interlude,' by the hip-hop group Cypress Hill. In 2004, Cypress Hill entered into a settlement agreement with Sunlight Records, then operating as Twinight/Twilight Records, for a $25,000 payment that absolved the hip-hop group of liability for any claims over its use of 'Is It Because I'm Black?'