Pitbull won his last major lawsuit (an alleged slander case from actress Lindsay Lohan) but he might be in trouble with his new one. Lee Oskar, a longtime harmonica player for the group War, accuses Pitbull and producers of infringing on the copyright of his solo track "San Francisco Bay," which was released during 1978, when crafting 2013's smash hit "Timber."
If you listen to the tracks below, you'll be able to hear what he's talking about. The harmonica portion in both songs are nearly spot-on. Still, that doesn't mean a copyright's been violated. Dr. Luke and company were clever, assuming they had Oskar's track in mind: The brought in Paul Harrington to play the harmonica live during the track, versus just sampling it. That makes Oskar's case tougher, but not necessarily that tough.
Still, Oskar can argue that the producers behind "Timber" instructed Harrington to emulate his copyrighted song. And it seems Harrington has already done so...maybe. The Wikipedia page for the song claims Harrington was told to mimic Oskar, and cites the reference to an article published by the Dallas Morning News from December.
Of course, neither Pitbull nor anyone else affiliated with the track seem to suggest that Oskar's allegations are untrue, at least as of yet.
Oskar and several other songwriters are seeking $3 million in damages from the lawsuit. "Timber" has sold 4 million copies so far since its release. It spent three weeks atop the Billboard Digital Downloads chart during 2013.
