Childish Gambino Wins "This Is America" Lawsuit After Appeals Court Rejects Claim He Stole The Song

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Childish Gambino/Donald Glover attends Rihanna's 4th Annual Diamond Ball at Cipriani Wall Street on September 13, 2018 in New York City. (Photo by Angela Weiss / AFP) (Photo credit should read ANGELA WEISS/AFP via Getty Images)
Childish Gambino has scored a big legal victory.

Childish Gambino has scored a major legal victory after a federal appeals court rejected Kidd Wes' latest attempt to sue him over "This Is America." The rapper is accusing Gambino of copyright infringement for allegedly plagiarizing his 2016 song, "Made in America." Wes previously lost his initial suit against Gambino in 2023 after failing to copyright the underlying musical composition of his original song.

Regardless, Judge Victor Marrero noted at the time that even if he had the proper copyright, he doesn't feel Glover infringed on his song. “Even if [Kidd Wes] had a copyright registration for the composition … dismissal would be warranted here because the elements of [the] composition purportedly infringed upon are insufficiently original to warrant protection or because they are not substantially similar to the challenged Composition," he said at the time.

Childish Gambino Attends Vanity Fair Oscar Party

BEVERLY HILLS, CALIFORNIA - MARCH 10: Donald Glover attends the 2024 Vanity Fair Oscar Party hosted by Radhika Jones at Wallis Annenberg Center for the Performing Arts on March 10, 2024 in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by Taylor Hill/Getty Images)

The legal victory comes after Gambino surprised fans with a new project, last week, in the way of Atavista. The project serves as a reissued version of his fourth studio album, 3.15.20. “ATAVISTA is streaming now,” he wrote on Twitter. “This album is the finished version of 3.15.20, the album i put out 4 years ago. there’s a special vinyl coming soon w/ visuals for each song. the all new childish gambino album comes out in the summer.” In addition to the album, he'll also be embarking on The New World Tour later this year.

Childish Gambino Stars In Politically Charged "This Is America" Video

Revisit Gambino's politically charged video for "This Is America" above. In recent weeks, the song has been undergoing harsh retrospective reviews on social media. Be on the lookout for further updates on Childish Gambino on HotNewHipHop.

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About The Author
Cole Blake is a current staff writer at HotNewHipHop based out of New York City. He began writing for the site as an intern back in 2018 while finishing his B.A. in Journalism at St. John’s University. In the time since, he’s covered a number of breaking stories for HNHH. These include the ongoing YSL RICO trial, the allegations surrounding Diddy, and much more. His work also extends outside of hip-hop, having written extensively about a myriad of topics including politics, sports, and pop culture. He’s attended several music festivals to provide coverage for the site as well, such as Rolling Loud and Governors Ball.
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