Los Angeles, CA. Nixon Peabody has again successfully defended the Estate of the Notorious B.I.G. in a copyright infringement case based on the lyrics of the artist’s song “Party and Bullsh*t,” in Abiodun Oyewole v. Rita Ora et al.
Nixon Peabody’s legal team first secured a victory for the Estate of the Notorious B.I.G. in 2018 in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York. However, poet Abiodun Oyewole went on to appeal the case before the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Today, the Second Circuit affirmed the district court’s finding of fair use, making this the first fair use ruling for music lyrics and the first fair use ruling affirmed with a written decision.
