The Chicago Sun-Times reports that Chance The Rapper is being sued for copyright infringement over “Windows,” a song that appeared on his breakout mixtape 10 Day. The lawsuit is being brought by jazz-composer-turned-lawyer Abdul Wali Muhammad (formerly Eric P. Saunders), who says the song contains significant portions of the Lonnie Liston Smith song “Bridge Through Time,” which Muhammad says he wrote and filed a copyright claim for in 1979.
Listening to the two songs, it’s pretty clear that “Windows” uses “Bridge”—or, more specifically, a remix of the track by Apollo Brown, the credited producer on Chance’s song—as its spine. (Samples of the song have also popped up on songs like Big K.R.I.T.’s “Down And Out” and “We Roll Deep” by The Conscious Daughters.)
Muhammad claims Chance never contacted him to clear the sample, and, despite the fact that 10 Day was released for free back in 2012 (significantly raising Chance’s public profile in the process) he’s seeking damages for the infringement, as well as a court order that Chance cease distributing or performing the song. Muhammad says he only became aware of the infringement back in April, and previously contacted Chance’s management to have the song pulled.