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Common Accused of Uncommon Thievery

Posted Jul 14th 2009 6:08AM by TMZ Staff

Rapper Common Rapper Common is a self-proclaimed thief ... a dude who busts himself when he steals -- this, according to a pair of songwriters.

Andrew Marks and London McDaniels filed a lawsuit yesterday, claiming Common stole their song "When Will The Day Come" in his tune "Take it EZ."

But here's the twist: Common gives Marks and McDaniels this credit on the downloadable version of his song: "Contains samples from: When Will The Day Come.'"

Here's the problem: The credit don't pay the rent. So Marks and McDaniels are suing for unspecified damages.

Tags: common, lawsuit, sued, take it EZ, TakeItEz, when will the day come, WhenWillTheDayCome

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1. I didn't know that guy was a rapper. I thought he was just an actor.

Posted at 10:00AM on Jul 14th 2009 by eattrn

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Posted at 11:36AM on Jul 14th 2009 by peoplestring.com

3. Common? Another dumb @ss "rap" name from a no talent individual. Never heard of him. Dude, change your name to Uncommon.

Posted at 10:34AM on Jul 14th 2009 by people who announce FIRST suck

4. #3: If you never heard of him how do you know he has no talent? He has won a Grammy, several other music awards, He is an accomplished actor and was just in Terminator Salvation. He was in Street Kings, Wanted, and several other movies. He's no A list actor, but he is a good enough actor to keep getting cast in movies. Better than you, #3. He also was advertising for The Gap and for Microsoft. I have some of his songs on my computer but I'm no big fan of his. I think he is very talented, but the type of music he performs isn't a genre I listen to a lot. I am open minded enough to realize what he does requires talent.

Always funny how people online talk crap about celebrities but the people talking crap are just nobodies sitting behind a computer monitor who have little or no talent themselves. Thats very common.

Posted at 1:45PM on Jul 14th 2009 by One Mike

5. #3 How can you say that Common has no talent if you have never heard of him? Do you decide a film/music is bad before you see or listen to it often? Wouldn’t being called "Common" sort of lump him into every one else and having the name of "Uncommon" as you suggest, would mean he's different thus having incredible talent... Are you sure it is Common that’s the dumb @ss? By the way, Common shortened his name years ago it was originally Common Sense because many like you have the handicap of being born with out it.

Posted at 11:22AM on Jul 14th 2009 by Huh?

6. Whoooeeee! Go boys, go. Hope you get yours!

Posted at 11:31AM on Jul 14th 2009 by sunpatches

7. The man is a bum.

Posted at 12:14PM on Jul 14th 2009 by wong@frog.cc

8. 3 & 4: Awesome! Even though the artist gets left out there to look like a thief, it's possible staff simply failed to do their job in getting the clearances and that he was unaware. He clearly wasn't trying to get away with anything and has been in the game long enough to know how it goes with using samples, so it's more likely that he operated under the expectation that others were doing what they're paid to do while he was doing the same. Anyone who works with a team theoretically does this all the time, but I suppose this headline is a more interesting way to frame it. I'm sure it will settle out of court and I hope the writers receive their due, but I don't think this was intentional.

Posted at 12:32PM on Jul 14th 2009 by Aly

9. ummm... "Take it EZ" came out in 1992 (not 2007), when he used to go by the name Common Sense.

Posted at 12:42PM on Jul 14th 2009 by telephasic

10. HipHop Videos - Common is very talented and i have all of his albums. Keep up the good work "Common Sense"!!!!

Posted at 12:55PM on Jul 14th 2009 by HipHopOD

11. What really sucks is that TMZ is wrong about when this song came out. It was on a album of his back in 1992. Doubt they will recieve much anyway.

Posted at 1:49PM on Jul 14th 2009 by Tye

12. racists come out against anyone black on this site...sorry ass people...

Posted at 1:14PM on Jul 14th 2009 by HMMMMM

13. Couldn't you at least get the info right for your article? You are the press, right? The album with that song came out in 1997. why are they just suing now? If Common gave credit to them, wouldn't you think he thought the sample was cleared? By the way he is one of the best rappers of our time, but more than that he is an incredible person. I have met him

Posted at 1:27PM on Jul 14th 2009 by Blessing

14. You are the press right? You could at least get your information correct. Wasn't that song done in1997? Common is one of the best rappers of our time, and more than that he is a incredible human being. I have had the honor to meet him. Why are they coming forth now and if he gave them credit on the song he must have thought that it was cleared. Duh!!

Posted at 1:34PM on Jul 14th 2009 by Blessing

15. Music? More like musuck... This guy blows!!!

Posted at 1:54PM on Jul 14th 2009 by Zonny VanRant

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