Frank Ocean is being sued over his song “Super Rich Kids.” TufAmerica, a company that owns 3.15 percent of the copyright on Mary J. Blige’s “Real Love,” is suing Ocean for allegedly improperly sampling the track. The catch is that TufAmerica only owns that 3.15 percent of “Real Love,” as it was awarded that exact share after already suing Blige and her label for illicitly using a sample of Audio Two’s “Top Billin’”—a track that, in turn, illicitly sampled the drum intro from the track TufAmerica actually owns, The Honey Drippers’ “Impeach The President.” So, in essence, Ocean is being sued for using a sample of a sample of a sample.
TufAmerica owns the rights to the 1973 Honey Drippers song, along with a number of others, and has had no problem taking copyright claims to court. The label has sued both the Kanye West and Jay Z (among others) for allegedly sampling its tracks without permission.