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Jay Z to pay royalties for 'stolen' Swiss tune

Malcolm Curtis
Malcolm Curtis - [email protected]
Jay Z to pay royalties for 'stolen' Swiss tune
Photo: AFP

American rap star Jay Z has agreed to pay half the royalties from one of his songs to Swiss jazz musician Bruno Spoerri after using Spoerri’s music without permission.

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The rapper had initially denied copying Spoerri’s instrumental “Lilith — on the way” — in “Versus”, a song that came out in 2013.

But following an 18-month legal process, Jay Z has agreed to hand over a portion of royalties from “Versus”, Spoerri told the ATS news agency, confirming a report about the deal in Basel-based daily TagesWoche.

The lifted melody in question came from a song composed by the Swiss pianist and saxophonist in 1978, ATS said.

Jay Z, the stage name of Shawney Corey Carter, a 45-year-old rapper, record producer and entrepreneur,

only admitted to using the music without attribution a few months ago, according to the report.

Spoerri rejected an initial offer to settle the dispute, considering it too low.

The 79-year-old has been making a living from music since 1967.

He has worked with the likes of Lee Konitz, Hans Kennel and George Gruntz.

Among other things he has directed the Zurich jazz festival and music schools in Zurich and Lucerne.

Check out for yourself Spoerri’s allegations of plagiarism with the two YouTube videos below:

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