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[jasonng]

Will.i.am, one of the judges on BBC talent show The Voice, is suing fellow US pop music star Pharrell Williams over his use of the phrase “I am” .

Mr Williams set up his own “i am OTHER” brand to promote talent online and said he was searching for a “diverse group of optimistic, bright minds”.

But Will.i.am, real name William James Adams, took exception and filed a lawsuit claiming that he owns the copyright to the phrase “I AM” and that Pharrell's logo is “confusingly similar” to his “i.am+” iPhone camera add-on, according to court documents.

The “registration of the mark.. is likely to dilute the I AM mark and the will.i.am mark”, the documents claim.

Pharrell Williams told Rolling Stone magazine: “I am disappointed that Will, a fellow artist, would file a case against me. I am someone who likes to talk things out and, in fact, I attempted to do just that on many occasions.

”I am surprised in how this is being handled and I am confident that Will's trademark claims will ultimately be found to be as meritless and ridiculous as I do.“

Will.i.am, founder of the hip hop band The Black Eyed Peas, has recently faced accusations of copyright infringement himself after producers Arty and Mat Zo accused him of sampling their song “Rebound” without their permission on his latest recording with singer Chris Brown.

Link.

 

[CHusson91]

Will.i.am is such a dingus.

 

[Grimm Fandango]

Can't wait for this guy to bow out of the limelight. Don't like any of his music personally.

 

[Courage]

"You are" a talentless musician that has to rely on gimmicks to sell albums.

 

[Crayons]

Will he also sue pharmacies for use of the word douche?

 

[Weenerz]

He is quite the shitbag, but the Will.i.am is his brand and it makes sense.

 

[Forever]

He's just mad that we all know who the better artist is.

 

[Sullichin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HKWEWCvKjgY

This fucking guy.

ANALOG, DIGITAL!!!!!

 

[Baby Milo]

Nas should do us a favor and sue Will

 

[WedgeX]

I am whatever you say I am.

 

[vikki]

Meanwhile Will.I.Am steals entire songs... Really Will?

If you haven't seen this already

 

[legend166]

When will he try and sue YHWH?

 

[Cheddahz]

Will.i.am is still big?

 

[Salsa]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_yuegGWV5s

+

pretty sure he stole an around the world sample from daft punk


so yeah, this dude suing someone is hilarious

 

[cdyhybrid]

Will.i.am needs to go away.

 

[atomsk]

oh no, he better time travel back to 2003 and sue the band Dope as well

 

[Infinite]

You can do that?

 

[Derwind]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QEMJfQn6TDw

 

[injurai]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=S_yuegGWV5s

+

pretty sure he stole an around the world sample from daft punk


so yeah, this dude suing someone is hilarious

seriously fuck this. How can the industry even support these talentless hacks.

 

[rdrr gnr]

Shameful. Will shouldn't even look Pharrell in the eyes.

 

[Junior Mint]

lol what a fucking jackoff

 

[Camp Lo]

What a douchy move. Oh well, gotta make that money somehow; music ain't paying, that's for damn sure.

 

[OnettHansen]

Will.I.Am is a colossal twat.

 

[Kaladin]

I think if he would have used "I am Other" there might not be that big of an issue, but with "i am Other" it is pretty close to the way Will.i.am uses I am. I'm pretty certain you can trademark words in certain contexts, but you can't just trademark "I am" in any context. If that was the case, someone would have got rich off "You suck", "shut up", "shit happens", ect.

 

[cheststrongwell]

He used to be so good. What the fuck happened?

 

[CarpeDeezNutz]

He used to be so good. What the fuck happened?

I was about to post the same thing, black eyed peas had some great jams back in the day.

 

[DominoKid]

will.i.am just mad that skateboard p makes better music than him and didn't have to sell out to cross over.

 

[Sullichin]

He used to be so good. What the fuck happened?

Please enlighten me with a good Will.i.am song.
Not saying you're wrong, I'm not familiar with his early career.

 

[cheststrongwell]

Please enlighten me with a good Will.i.am song.
Not saying you're wrong, I'm not familiar with his early career.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoXO7Tx1mGQ

Great album.

Going back further, Atban Klann was really good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-XA38boGTE

 

[Lonestar]

Did he sue I Am Legend?

English Language: It's Copyrighted!

 

[Bread]

Will.i.am is such a dingus.

he's a total hunk

 

[I'M FINISHED!]

 

[Log4Girlz]

I am being sued.

 

[Skilotonn]

Ridiculous of him to sue for anything with "I am" in it, this guy.

 

[Aristion]

He might as well sue God Almighty himself:


Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

 

[Derwind]

He might as well sue God Almighty himself:


Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

Don't give him ideas.

 

[Data West]

Isn't Pharrell like everyone in music's best friend? Seems like quite a bridge to burn for William.

 

[arab]

i smell a lawsuit

and dog food

 

[Devolution]

I AM so tired of Will.i.am's shit.

 

[Despera]

It's obvious that Pharrell intentionally chose that phrase, which is why I'm really loving this.

What the fuck happened to Will, man? He used to make good music until the early days of the BEP.

 

[cdyhybrid]

I AM so tired of Will.i.am's shit.

Cease & Desist is in the mail already

 

[victreeb3l]

fuck off will i am. go jump off a cliff

 

[bobbychalkers]

In Search of, Justified, and a bunch of other albums and tracks>>>>>Whatever Will.i.am has ever done.

 

[umop_3pisdn]

He might as well sue God Almighty himself:


Exodus 3:14 And God said unto Moses, I Am That I Am: and he said, Thus shalt thou say unto the children of Israel, I Am hath sent me unto you.

Or there's the Sanskrit "soham" mantra in yogic traditions that translates to "I am that", so repeated indefinitely it becomes "I am that I am that I am that..." (etc). Or in other esoteric systems, the first sign of the Zodiac, Aries, supposedly carries the motto "I am". Stuff like this is found everywhere and from way long ago, it's like suing someone for using an image of a circle.

 

[Jaxter09]

Pretty rich when his songs consists of ripping off 2-3 old songs and then bragging about how good the beat is and shouting OH YEAH every now and then.

 

[Kaladin]

 

[webkatt]

Lol, isn't this the guy who recently ripped off a whole song

 

[Sullichin]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uoXO7Tx1mGQ

Great album.

Going back further, Atban Klann was really good.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u-XA38boGTE

Much better than any BEP I've heard for sure. I'm listening to the rest of Behind The Front on Spotify now and it's solid. They don't seem to make hip hop songs anymore, just shitty electronic dance music with annoying vocals, which unfortunately is the paradigm for pop hip-hop songs now.

Lol, isn't this the guy who recently ripped off a whole song

Yeah, me and SalsaShark posted 2 separate songs he stole.

 

[Derwind]

"The shift is about to hit the fan"

 

[jasonng]

I AM so tired of Will.i.am's shit.

Joke's already been done in OP.