Clifford Joseph Harris, better known as the rapper T.I., is being sued for copyright infringement by Nathan Filby, known as rapper Motoe Blizzid. Filby- who is being represented by One LLP, an entertainment and intellectual property litigation firm known for handling high-profile copyright infringement suits- is taking issue with the rapper’s 2006 Grammy-award winning song What You Know. Filby says the song uses substantial portions of his 2004 track entitled Reverence.
Filby has performed with Ice-T, Snoop Dogg, and Ludacris among others and says he distributed Reverence to industry insiders including an agent at Relentless Management who works with T.I.
He says the musical evidence is irrefutable from their “same rate of harmonic range” to their “virtually identical core harmonic progression of descending 4ths” and “nearly identical instrumental melodic lines in terms of pitch, shape, and rhythm.” Filby even added illustrations in the court documents showing the two songs’ similar melodic similarities.
Filby is requesting a jury tail and seeks any damages and disgorgement of all profits derived from the song. T.I. Is currently at a halfway house in Atlanta from a federal weapons charge.
