In an opinion last week, Judge Pauley granted Drake and his co-defendants summary judgment in a case accusing them of copyright infringement.  The case arose from the fact that Drake’s song “Pound Cake” opens with about 35 seconds of spoken words that are similar to a spoken word recording called “Jimmy Smith Rap,” by the jazz artist Jimmy Smith.

Judge Pauley found that Drake’s sampling was fair use because (among other reasons) it was “transformative” of the Smith track (referred to in the opinion as “JSR”):
Continue Reading Judge Pauley: Drake’s Sampling of Spoken Word Excerpt from Jazz Album is Fair Use