Migos scored a big victory in court in their “Walk It, Talk It” lawsuit thanks in part to Wiz Khalifa and Jeezy.
Back in 2018, rap group Migos was served a summons on the basis that they stole their song “Walk It, Talk It.” The track was featured on their Culture II album. Rapper M.O.S. claimed that the rap group stole his version of the song that he did back in 2007, as no official connections were made to secure the rights from him. Sadly for M.O.S. and DJ Folk, who was featured on the 2007 track, Judge Analisa Torres was not seeing his side of the spectrum. The judge said no one could really claim the saying as theirs since it is such a widely used phrase, All Hip Hop reported.
“Because songwriters must be free to borrow sayings and expressions from popular culture, the Second Circuit and courts in this district have found that short and commonplace phrases are not protectable, even when used as the title or repeated lyrics of a song, as is the case here,” explained the judge.
To strengthen her stance on her ruling, she drew for a few other instances where other rappers used “Walk It like I talk it” way before Migos made the song. Migos should be thankful for songs such as Paul Wall’s 2005 “March’ n’ Step,” Young Jeezy’s 2006 track “3 A.M.” and Wiz Khalifa’s track “Be Easy.”
She pointed out how the copyright laws work to M.O.S., “The only similarity between the two works at issue, the lyrics “walk it like I talk it,” is not original to the author and is, therefore, not protected by the copyright laws.”
However, the final dagger through the case came as a result of improper licensing on the part of M.O.S. and his team. The judge ruled that the musical composition was not registered at the time that the complaint was filed and as such the case will be dismissed.
Records show that the 2007 song was not registered until 2018, and that is actually months after the release of Migo’s record. It seems M.O.S. was fighting a losing battle from the start.
