Sheppard Mullin Richter & Hampton has spent the last year defending the Beastie Boys against claims that a handful of their songs from the 1980s unlawfully sampled music from a lesser-known band called Trouble Funk. The first key ruling in the case came down on Tuesday, and it's a partial win for the seminal hip hop group.
Southern District Judge Alison Nathan (See Profile) dismissed most of the copyright infringement claims in the case, which is being spearheaded by TufAmerica Inc., a record label and music publishing company that owns the copyrights to Trouble Funk's music. Of TufAmerica's six original copyright infringement claims in TufAmerica v. Diamond, 12 Civ. 3529, only two are left standing. Nathan also limited damages on statute of limitations grounds.
