This includes both the initial lyrics which occur a total of six times and the lyric variations”.Ĭhris Brown’s Privacy, the publisher adds, “does not” contain a hook phrase and therefore Phrase A “takes on greater significance, due to its prominent position as the first phrase in each chorus section”.Īdds the lawsuit: “Phrase A in the infringing work is also very distinctive in the song because it contrasts with and musically deviates from a material preceding and following it musically, lyrically, and vocally. In Greensleeves’ lawsuit, the company argues that in Tight Up Skirt, Phrase A “is the hook and dominates the chorus sections, occurring a total of 18 times throughout the song. Red Rat’s Tight Up Skirt and Chris Brown’s Privacy, the video for which has over 213 million views on YouTube, “share a similar primary identifying feature” explains the lawsuit.Ī melody containing the lyrics ‘Hey you girl inna di tight upskirt’ and ‘Hey you girl without a tight up skirt’, respectively (referred to in the suit as Phrase A), begins each chorus to both songs (see below).

Greensleeves says in the suit that it owns and administers exclusive music publishing rights in the United States to the copyright to Tight Up Skirt. Red Rat, who is not mentioned in the legal document filed by Greensleeves, said in 2017 following the release of Privacy that he was “getting many calls left and right from many people asking me about my thoughts regarding sampling Tight Up Skirt, and all I can say is, ‘Give God all the glory.”Īccording to Greensleeves’ claim, which you can read in full here, Chris Brown “took the core musical feature” of the track and “used it prominently” in Privacy “without permission”. Tight Up Skirt, performed by Jamaican Dancehall star Red Rat, was released in 1997, first in the UK and later around the world on the album Oh No… It’s Red Rat.

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