Three little words make a fair use

Oyewole v. Ora, 291 F.Supp.3d 422 (S.D.N.Y. 2018)This case grants a motion to dismiss on fair use grounds, though it should have been on lack of substantial similarity in protected expression.Oyewole is a founding member of the spoken-word group The Last Poets who created the song “When the Revolution Comes” in 1968. The song warns of a coming revolution when “guns and rifles will be taking the place of poems and essays,” with a back track of a drum beat and chants. Also: “When the revolution comes/ Transit cops will be crushed by the trains after losing their guns and blood will run through the streets of Harlem drowning anything without substance.” At the end of the song, the performers chant, “When the revolution comes (3x)/But until then you know and I know n*****s will party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party and bullshit and party… Some might even die before the revolution comes” (ellipsis…

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