The news that Jay Z is fighting a lawsuit over his use of the word ‘oh’ in a 1969 song by Eddie Bo supports several issues relating to copyright law says Kent Law School Associate Lecturer, Gauri Nanayakkara.
She said: ‘This law suit resurfaces several issues that support and confirm many criticisms relating to copyright law – a law expected to protect creators and their creations but serves contrary purposes.
‘Firstly, this case attempts to restrict anyone from using a single syllable word ‘oh’ in any recording, essentially limiting the access to this one syllable by any subsequent creator.
‘Secondly, this shows how copyright laws are utilised by entrepreneurs, rather than actual authors/creators, to their financial gain in the most extreme manner to the detriment of the general public.
‘Thirdly, this case reminds us of the difficulties creators of sampled work encounter due to copyright law, a law that has been unable to keep up with the technological advances, failing to recognise sampling as creative work. Hopefully this case will set good precedence by refusing this attempt to excessively use copyright law to limit public access to words and to hinder creativity.’