Ross left hustlin’ with court fees as LMFAO shuffles free

Rick Ross has lost his legal lawsuit to LMFAO following a decision that the merchandise bearing the catch phrase ‘Everyday I’m Shufflin’ did not constitute a copyright infringement of Ross’ musical phrase ‘Everyday I’m Hustlin’.

Copyright protection does not automatically extend to every component of a copyrighted work. In this case it was not the lyrics of ‘Hustlin’ that were the subject of copyright. The issue was ‘whether the use of the three words being divorced from the music, modified and subsequently printed on merchandise, constituted an infringement of the musical composition?’ The answer, put plainly by Judge Williams, it that “quite simply, it does not.”

Reference was made to multiple other cases where short phrases such as “holla back” were unsuccessful after falling short (or far) from meeting any originality requirement.

In order to demonstrate copyright infringement the plaintiff must demonstrate substantial similarity between the alleged infringing work and the copyright protected elements. To establish this, the ‘average lay observer’ must be able to recognise an appropriation of the copyrighted work.

In line with this, Judge Williams noted that even if the phrase ‘Everyday I’m Hustlin’ could attract copyright for merchandise purposes, the ‘average lay observer’ would not confuse the Tshirts bearing ‘Everyday I’m Shufflin’ with Ross’ musical composition ‘Hustlin’

The lawsuit continues in regards to the similarity of the lyrics themselves. Meantime Redfoo fans can breathe a sigh of relief knowing his ‘Shufflin’ merch will remain on the shelves.