Michael Caulfield/WireImage; Dane Andrew/ZUMAPress.comGeorge Clinton would like the Black Eyed Peas to shut the phunk up.
The Parliament-Funkadelic frontman has sued the Peas for copyright infringement, claiming the hitmakers' "Shut Up Remix" borrows too heavily from Clinton's "(Not Just) Knee Deep."
Er..."Shut Up" was the second single off of the group's 2003 album Elephunk, and that's when the remix came out, too. So what took the funk master so long to raise an objection?
Clinton's lawsuit, filed in a California federal court, states that, not only did the Peas use his song in their 2003 remix, but they sampled him again in 2009's "Shut the Phunk Up Remix" without sending any royalties his way.
Mr. Clinton would like the royalties he feels he deserves now.
The artist is seeking a declaratory judgment dictating his percentage of ownership in the two Black Eyed Peas songs, as well as damages, and a permanent injunction preventing them from performing, promoting or profiting from either "Shut Up" remix.
The Peas have been pressed for accountability before. Two separate lawsuits were filed against the group this year, one claiming that they snatched "Boom Boom Pow" from a Chicago-based duo, and the other alleging that they ripped off a Texas artist for "I Got a Feeling."