Dr. Luke at the centre of beats copyright lawsuit

Producer DR. LUKE is at the centre of a groundbreaking new lawsuit over an alleged borrowed beat.
New Old Music Group president Lenny Lee Goldsmith claims he wrote the “breakbeat” Dr. Luke, real name Lukasz Gottwald, used freely in Jessie J’s hit Price Tag, and although his 1975 composition, Zimba Ku, has been sampled by the likes of N.W.A. and Kool G. Rap, he wants the producer to pay up.
Goldsmith, whose track was recorded by the band Black Heat, is suing for copyright infringement, claiming much of the Jessie J song is identical to his track, but Dr. Luke’s attorneys have argued the drum part in Zimba Ku is too common for the executive’s case to stand.
However, in a ruling on Friday (07Aug15), Judge Ronnie Abrams stated, “While many of the individual elements of Zimba Ku may be commonplace, Defendants have not shown that, as a matter of law, the combination of those elements in the drum part is so common as to preclude any reasonable inference of copying.”
The case continues and could now go to trial, where a jury will decide the merits of Goldsmith’s claims.
Dr. Luke is also embroiled in an ongoing legal battle over pop star Kesha’s contract. She filed papers last year (Oct14), accusing the producer of alleged sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, emotional abuse, and violation of California business practices over their 10-year collaboration. She also claimed Dr. Luke repeatedly drugged her and that his abuse caused her eating disorder which forced her into rehab at the beginning of 2014.
In response, Dr. Luke filed a countersuit against Kesha for defamation, accusing her, her mother, and her management of fabricating the abuse claims in order to break her contract with him.