2Point9 Records has issued court proceedings against Ministry Of Sound Recordings for alleged copyright infringement.
2Point9 Records is a London-based independent label founded by Billy Grant and Rob Stuart in 2000,
Filed in the UK High Court, 2Point9’s claim concerns its recording, Ride It, first released in 2008 featuring Jay Sean.
In its claim, 2Point9 asserts that Ministry of Sound Recordings (part of Sony Music) released a remixed version of the track by Dardan Aliu aka DJ Regard, which substantially sampled their original track.
The DJ Regard remix was first posted on TikTok in 2019 and became a viral hit. Ministry Of Sound Recordings picked up the track and released it in July 2019.
“2Point9 allege that Ministry Of Sound Recordings knew in June 2019 that DJ Regard’s remix used their recording, that it was willing to discuss terms for the use of its master recording but that Ministry of Sound Recordings chose not to enter into any meaningful commercial discussions, electing instead to proceed with its release,” said a statement from the independent label.
The track has since gone on to achieve over one billion streams on Spotify and more than half a billion YouTube views.
Ministry Of Sound Recordings did re-record the sample after the first release, by which time the track had become a commercial success. The parties have since been unable to find a commercial solution.
Billy Grant, co-founder of 2Point9 Records, said: “We have been fighting our corner on this matter for five years now and won’t stop until we get justice. Throughout the entire time we have been pursuing this claim, Ministry Of Sound Recordings has treated our label with arrogance and dismissiveness, and the irony is not lost on us that before its acquisition by Sony Music Entertainment, Ministry Of Sound Recordings was an independent label itself. Why they think that this kind of behaviour against a small label is acceptable is bewildering. However, we are determined to make them realise that it is not OK to ride roughshod over the commercial rights of those in the independent sector and that there are consequences for doing so. Commencing legal action is the next step in that process”.
Sony Music has not commented on the legal action.
