RAP Act Bill Reintroduced In Congress
A renewed push within the RAP Act invoice to protect artists from having their lyrics used towards them in courtroom is gaining momentum in Congress.
On Thursday, Representatives Hank Johnson of Georgia and Sydney Kamlager-Dove of California reintroduced the Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act within the U.S. House of Representatives. The invoice seeks to limit prosecutors from utilizing lyrics as felony proof until they will show the phrases have been meant as literal statements of truth.
The laws, initially launched in 2022, didn’t advance past the committee stage. But with its reintroduction, the RAP Act returns with broader business backing. Music firms, comparable to Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group, together with advocacy teams together with the Recording Academy and the RIAA, are actually throwing their help behind the proposal.
For many years, prosecutors have used lyrics—significantly in rap—to color artists as criminals. Critics argue the observe unfairly targets Black musicians whose style typically depends on fictionalized narratives and street-based imagery.
“Freddie Mercury didn’t confess to murder. Johnny Cash wasn’t tried for shooting a man in Reno,” stated Rep. Johnson, mentioning the double normal typically utilized to hip-hop.
Recent high-profile circumstances have amplified the urgency behind the invoice. In Georgia, rapper Jeffery Williams, higher often known as Young Thug, confronted RICO expenses largely supported by his lyrics. Prosecutors claimed his group, YSL, was a gang; protection attorneys argued it was merely a file label. A choose permitted 17 traces of lyrics to be entered into proof. Williams later accepted a plea deal after spending greater than 900 days in custody.
The problem has additionally bled into civil litigation. Drake’s authorized crew not too long ago filed a defamation go well with towards Universal Music Group, claiming Kendrick Lamar’s 2024 diss monitor “Not Like Us” endangered him and his household. Legal students responded by urging the courtroom to not interpret rap lyrics as literal info, warning that doing so threatens creative freedom.
Industry leaders are pushing Congress to behave. “Weaponizing lyrics undermines expression and chills creativity,” stated Recording Academy CEO Harvey Mason Jr. UMG government Jeffrey Harleston added that lyrics are sometimes exaggerated or symbolic, not confessions of guilt.
As the RAP Act returns to the House ground, its supporters hope this time lawmakers will draw a transparent line between poetry and prosecution.
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