George Michael Estate Smacks Down Tory Lanez Over Unauthorized ‘Careless Whisper’ Use
variety.comCharlie Amter Late last year, Madonna made headlines when she went after embattled rapper Tory Lanez for what she felt was unauthorized usage of her 1985 hit “Into the Groove” in his song “Pluto’s Last Comet.”“Read your messages tor [sic] illegal usage of my song Get into The Groove!” she wrote on Instagram, later adding in a comment to Rolling Stone, “I am tired of being taken advantage of and I mean business.”Now, another iconic name from the 1980s is speaking out against Lanez: the George Michael estate, who have taken action to get a different song (“Enchanted Waterfall”) from Lanez’s ‘80s-inspired fall 2021 album, “Alone at Prom,” yanked from Spotify.
They claim it lifts from Michael’s 1985 hit “Careless Whisper,” which the singer wrote with Wham! bandmate Andrew Ridgeley. “It was brought to our attention that the song ‘Enchanted Waterfall’ by the artist Tory Lanez incorporated an unauthorized sample of ‘Careless Whisper’ written by George Michael and Andrew Ridgeley….requested permission for this use had been declined in June 2021 so we took immediate action on behalf of the writers, in collaboration with our publishers Warner Chappell Music, to prevent further exploitation as we will not tolerate any unauthorized use of any songs within the catalogues of George Michael and/or Andrew Ridgeley,” a statement released to Variety on behalf of the George Michael estate and Ridgeley says.A publicist for Tory Lanez did not immediately respond to Variety’s request for comment.
Michael’s estate extended its long-term global publishing deal with Warner Chappell Music late last year.It appears that Lanez decided to release “Enchanted Waterfall” with the sample despite the estate’s objections.
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