More litigation, and more litigation involving the Universal Music Group, though in the US this time. R&B singer Esther Williams has sued Amaru Entertainment, the company run by the mother of the late Tupac Shakur, and Universal Music Group, claiming one of her songs was sampled without permission on two separate tracks, firstly on a Tupac track released by Amaru and Universal label Interscope, and secondly on a Ghostface Killah track released by Universal label Def Jam.
The sampled track is Williams' 1976 song 'Last Night Changed It All', which the singer claims was used without permission on Tupac's 'Late Night', which appeared on his fourth posthumous album 'Better Dayz' in 2002, and on the Ghostface Killah track 'Last Night Skit', which appeared on the 2004 album 'The Pretty Toney Album'. According to Allhiphop.com Williams' lawsuit seeks $10 million in damages for the uncleared samples.
Universal are yet to comment on the litigation.