Harlem Shake Compensation: Royalties fight begins

Harlem Shake Royalties fight begins

Viral video sensation The Harlem Shake is at the center of a row over royalties for artists who did not give their permission for the samples used on the dance hit. The Harlem Shake creator Baauer failed to get permission from El Father to use his line Con Los Terroristas, translated from Spanish as with the terrorists to open the song; the line is taken from El Father’s 2006 Los Terroristas release.

The line Do The Harlem Shake is taken from the song Miller Time and is sung by Hennessy Youngblood who initially gave verbal permission, but is now seeking royalties.

“We can turn around and stop that song,” Javier Gómez, the former manager for reggaeton artist Hector El Father, told the New York Times. “[It’s] a clear breaking of intellectual property rights.” El Father is the voice that purrs “Con los terroristas” (“With the terrorists”) at the opening of Harlem Shake. The line first appeared on 2006’s Los Terroristas, and Gómez says it is one of El Father’s “trademarks”.

Baauer’s record label is negotiating with the sampled artists over the division of royalties. It is possible that a illegally used sample can cost the recording artist their entire right to the publishing royalties from a song; the U.K.’s The Verve lost their publishing rights to the song Bittersweet symphony when they failed to get permission from the Rolling Stones for a sample.

On The Web:

Harlem Shake creator could lose royalties over uncleared samples
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2013/mar/12/harlem-shake-royalties-uncleared-samples