Michael Henderson Files Lawsuit Against Snoop Dogg

Michael HendersonMichael Henderson is no stranger to having his music sampled.

The bassist, who toured with Stevie Wonder and recorded with Miles Davis during his electric years, has had clips of his music used in songs by Jay-Z, Eminem, Notorious B.I.G., and more. He also knows, however, when his music is being used without his permission.

Henderson has filed a lawsuit against rappers Snoop Dogg, MC Eiht, Goldie Lo, Kam, Doggy Style Records, and Universal Music for incorporating samples of his music into their songs without permission. According to the file, Snoop Dogg and company illegally sampled “Riding,” from Henderson’s 1979 album, Do It All. The group used the samples in their songs “Flashbacks,” and “Hands on the Wheel,” which were both available to for stream, download and purchase.

The veteran bassist is suing for copyright infringement, unfair competition, and unjust enrichment, and is seeking unspecified damages in a trial by jury.

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  1. Kirk

    Go for it dude. Sue his pants off. Snoop can afford to pay royalties and there is no call to illegally sample music. I am sure Mr. Henderson would have been happy to receive a very small royalty per song and it wouldn’t have hurt the Dog. Hope the judge gives Mr. Henderson about 50 times what he would have gotten if the royalties were done like they should have.

    I have a friend (white guy) that writes and records Christian praise music. He told me the other day he got a check for $50 royalty. He couldn’t figure out what it was. He called and they told him that a hip-hop band had sampled 3 seconds from one of his songs and it was a doing good. He never heard of the band before but was very excited about getting paid something.