So, are you ready for this? The lawsuits are positively looping in this one, you might need to draw a diagram. Universal Music are suing R&B star Christina Milian and producer Poli Paul in response to Poli Paul suing Universal and Milian in response to Milian suing him in response to her being sued by the owners of a song called 'La Sirena' which was sampled, illegally as it happens, in her 2003 track, 'Dip It Low'. You got all that, right?
Let's do it in chronological order. In 2003 Poli Paul produced the Christina Milian track 'Dip It Low' which was released by Universal's Island Def Jam division. It sampled 12 seconds of an eighties track called 'La Sirena'. There seems to have been some confusion as to whose job it was to clear that sample, and as a result no one did.
In 2005 the owners of 'La Sirena' sued Milian over the sample. That lawsuit was settled the following year, but then last August Milian launched legal proceedings against Paul, claiming he had told her there were no samples in 'Dip It Low', and therefore he was liable for any litigation relating to the unclear sample, and for the legal costs she had incurred fighting the original royalties lawsuit.
In November Paul subsequently sued Universal, saying it was their duty prior to releasing the record to clear any samples, and any liability for Milian's legal fees therefore lay with them. As Universal's deal was with Milian, he subsequently added her as a defendant on that lawsuit, and claimed the singer should cover the legal costs he was incurring in suing Universal.
Universal, who say the creation of 'Dip It Low', samples and all, was entirely in the hands of Milian and Paul, are now suing both of them, arguing that they have been unfairly pulled into a dispute between the singer and producer, and that one or the other or both should pay their legal costs in defending themselves.
All of which sounds like an awful lot of lawyers earning an awful lot of money over a 12 second oversight. Which is good news for lawyers. Milian and Paul are yet to respond to the latest stage of litigation in this story.
Milian was dropped by Universal's Island Def Jam in 2006 and is, I think, now preparing a new album to be released by MySpace Records this Autumn. Assuming MySpace still exists by Autumn.