Childish Gambino‘s “This is America” has been cleared of accusations of plagiarism, but that’s not enough for rapper Kidd Wes, who would like leave to bring his previously dismissed case back before a court.
The rapper’s attorneys were back in court on Monday (April 15) fighting for their appeal of the March 2023 verdict that dismissed the suit on a technicality.
The technicality in question was the fact that Kidd Wes (real name Emelike Nwosuocha) failed to register his 2016 track, “Made In America,” with the copyright office. More specifically, Kidd Wes copyrighted the lyrics, but he didn’t copyright the underlying musical composition — a mistake his attorneys called an “administrative error.”
U.S. Circuit Judge Michael Park, however, failed to see the claim. “He submitted the audio and checked the sound recording on the form. And what he did not do is check the words and music box,” Park said, per Courthouse News. “If that’s right, how is that not a technicality, as opposed to a substantive failure?”
The panel will continue to deliberate on the matter.
In the original court documents filed in 2021, Kidd Wes argued Childish Gambino’s “flow” is eerily similar to his, citing his lyrics: “Made in America/ Flex on the radio/ Made me a terrorist/ Pessimistic n-ggas?/ You should just cherish this” and comparing them to Gambino’s: “This is America/ Guns in my area/ I got the strap/ I gotta carry ’em.”
Kidd Wes also insisted there were “scientific similarities” in both tracks and believes Childish Gambino intentionally ripped him off. Consequently, he was seeking major damages from Gambino, the co-writers of “This is America,” Roc Nation and Young Thug, who sings backup vocals on the track. “This Is America” boasts background vocals from Slim Jxmmi of Rae Sremmurd, BlocBoy JB, Quavo of Migos, and 21 Savage as well, but they were not named in the lawsuit.
Judge Victor Marrero ruled that the songs themselves aren’t similar, regardless of whether Kidd Wes had the proper registration documents or not.
“Even if Kidd Wes had a copyright registration for the composition of Childish Gambino’s Composition, however, dismissal would be warranted here because the elements of Childish Gambino’s Composition purportedly infringed upon are insufficiently original to warrant protection, or because they are not substantially similar to the Challenged Composition,” the judge said, per court records.