Flourgon’s Attorneys Advise Dancehall Artistes To Protect Their Work
News came yesterday that veteran dancehall artiste Flourgon was awarded a settlement in a US$300 million infringement lawsuit against The American pop star Miley Cryus.
The man behind the copyright infringement suit Mr Micheal May, better known to Jamaicans and fans as Flourgon, appeared in an Onstage before the settlement.
May sued Cyrus in March of last year for the use of the lyric “we run things, things don’t run we” in her 2013 smash hit ‘We Cant Stop’, claiming it’s from his 1988 hit ‘We Run Things’.
Flourgon showed up properly represented with both his lawyers by his side – JoAnn Squillace and Mr. Willie Gary. Gary also goes by another name “The Giant Killer” attributed to his knack for confronting some of the United States most prominent corporations resulting in substantial victories for him and his clients.
Both attorneys took this opportunity to dish out some useful advice to Dancehall and reggae artiste in Jamaica and the Caribbean alike.
“So Mr Gary, could you tell us why you decided to take this case?” Asked Winfred.
“While I was growing up I’ve always been told about the 10 commandments and the 7th commandment says ‘thou shall not steal’… They took something that wasn’t theirs and that is why we’re here… we’re gonna fight, that’s what we do.”
He continued saying “they’ve wronged him (Flourgon) there’s no doubt about it. And not only just him – there many other young men and women from the islands that’s for whatever reason taken advantage of and sometimes you gotta stand up for whats right – you gotta fight for what’s right and that’s why we’re here on behalf of Micheal.”
To that Joan added – ‘when you take something that’s not yours all you have to do is give Flourgon Mr. May his proper credit.’
She went on to clarify that Cyrus gave due credit to Slick Rick and Dougie Fresh for the term ladidi used in the pre chorus of the song which Ms. Squillace noted was not used as often as the disputed lyrics.
“Flourgon is the first to take on this fight and you have to because there are many Jamaican artistes, other west Indian artistes, Caribbean artistes, who’s music is being taken by the so-called giants in America and they figure they’ll never know.”
The interview wrapped with the attorneys sending the message to other songwriters to protect their creative rights and works.
“If you find out another artiste has stolen your work don’t sit on it – call us and we’ll take it to them.”
Watch the full interview below, and catch his live performance of the the song in question.