We first reported about the Nicki Minaj and Tracy Chapman fiasco back in October of 2018, whereby Chapman was reportedly suing Minaj over her Nas collaborated track "Sorry." From her perspective, the track Nicki wrote and recorded was ripped directly from her own hit called "Baby Can I Hold You." Reps of the "Barbie Tingz" artist did, in fact, ask Chapman for her permission to license "Baby Can I Hold You" multiple times throughout the month of June that year, with each request getting rejected. Queen was even pushed back in hopes of acquiring the rights to use the sample, with the Barbz even resorting to sliding into Chapman's DMs to beg the "Fast Car" singer to clear the sample.
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And although "Sorry" didn't make it to the final version of Queen, it did circulate around the internet after being played on Hot 97 by Funkmaster Flex, also getting some rotation on The Breakfast Club. So while Nicki's team is said to have tried to make the track unaccessable for consumers, the lawsuit claimed the damage had already been done. So Chapman proceeded to seek damages in the form of financial compensation for the use of her art without permission. Nicki, however, denied Chapman’s infringement claim, saying Chapman did not own the copyright for “Baby Can I Hold You,” and said her use of the song was protected under the “Fair Use” law, meaning she didn't owe Chapman a thing.
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Now, The Blast reports that the judge working on their case has given Chapman and Minaj until the end of this summer to attend private arbitration, in the hopes that an expert mediator could help them resolve it. If they can’t make a deal, then the case will head to trial in February 2020, court papers state.
