Lil Wayne Ordered To Turn Over Financial Records In Sample Clearance Case

Lil Wayne is once again the target of a lawsuit regarding sample clearance issues. A federal magistrate ordered the rapper to turn over financial records for his multi-platinum album, Tha Carter III to Urband & Lazar Music Publishing yesterday (March 18), reports the Associated Press.

The publishing company is suing Wayne for his unlawful usage of South African folksinger Karma-Ann Swanepoel’s song “Once,” for his track “I Feel Like Dying.” Although it does not appear on the disc, Urban and Lazar claim in their suit, which they filed last May, that the Grammy-award winning rapper promoted his CD by performing the song in concert and allowing fans to download it for free on his Web site.

Any ruling against Weezy can open the door for similar lawsuits as it is common practice for rappers to offer songs with uncleared samples for free, usually through mixtapes and other promotional means. However Wayne’s lawyers remain adamant that the lawsuit will have little success, responding in court documents, "Quite simply, 'I Feel Like Dying' did nothing for Mr. Carter's career."

Back In January, Wayne settled a lawsuit with The Rolling Stones, after it was ruled that his song “Playing With Fire” was a “clear derivative” of the rock band’s material. As a result, the track was removed from Tha Carter III and taken off all digital providers in every format.- Devin Chanda