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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.
Celebrity Justice7/14/2009 7:08 AM PDT BY TMZ STAFF
Common Accused of Uncommon Thievery
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Reader Comments
(Page 1 of 2)1.
I didn't know that guy was a rapper. I thought he was just an actor.
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2.
Common? Another dumb @ss "rap" name from a no talent individual. Never heard of him. Dude, change your name to Uncommon.
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#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.
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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.
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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.
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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!!
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11.
The songwriters were never given the credit. Had they been given the credit already, there would be no need for a lawsuit and it would have been settled long ago. They deserve the credit due for the sampling and whatever monies are owed to them for the use of their music.
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To all you idiots who say you've never heard of Common or that you thought he was just an actor...you all evidently ARE NOT hip hop, rap or R&B fans, just listeners to mainstream radio. EVERYONE who knows even a little about hip hop music knows Common. That's like saying you don't know NAS or never heard of Busta Rhymes...Rather than make comments about someone's moniker or the status of whether they are someone in their field just go back to commenting on things you know about. It makes you seem like far less of an dimwit.
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14.
Don't tell me he just snorted a line off of Serena's big ol' butt!
Advantage... Common
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Yes a ploy by people he admitantly "borrowed" music from without being granted permission and without paying them for thier music that he made money off of. If a persons music is sampled, no matter how talented and awesome the sampler may be, they still must gain permission from the right people and make sure that they are paid for the use of their music.
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