New York a cappella group The Persuasions are suing Apple over its use of one of their samples from Jamie xx‘s 2015 single, ‘I Know There’s Gonna Be (Good Times)’.
The lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by singer Jerome Lawson, contends the sample, which was used in an iPhone 6 TV advert, violates his right to publicity under California law.
According to the lawsuit, Apple’s use of the recording in a commercial marks a “deliberate violation of the collective bargaining agreements with SAG and AFTRA,” including a protocol requiring separate bargaining for singers for usage in commercials, according to The Hollywood Reporter.
The dispute first emerged in 2015, when The Persuasions singer Jimmy Hayes alleged the group did not approve the vocal snippet from their 1972 single ‘Good Times’, which Jamie used on his solo debut, ‘In Colour’.
Hayes said of the dispute: “It doesn’t bother me that they wanted to sample, but the thing is we have to sit down with management and make sure that everything is recognised and on the up-and-up.”
But, he later retracted his claim admitting, he “was told about it, but forgot.”
Now Lawson claims that Apple and ad firm Media Arts Lab, by using his “prominent and recognisable” voice in the campaign, “deceived” fans into “falsely believing that Lawson endorsed Apple and the iPhone and/or that Lawson consented to the use of his voice to advertise Apple’s products.”
