DJ Lag Wins Copyright Claim Against will.i.am

DJ Lag has reportedly reached a settlement agreement with will.i.am after the American artist plagiarised his hit song "Ice Drop". This comes after American DJ Megan Ryte released her "Culture" single two months ago which allegedly sampled DJ Lag's "Ice Drop" without permission. The Black Eyed Peas frontman had seemingly "forgotten" to mention to Ryte that the beats were not originally his. DJ Lag happily revealed to South African publication, SowetanLIVE, that will.i.am has come forward to compensate him for his error.

Read: will.i.am Apologises for Plagiarising DJ Lag's Beats on 'Culture' Song

DJ Lag, one of South Africa's pioneers in gqom, reportedly would not disclose the actual financial settlement figure but said the following:

"My team at Black Major and their management team got in touch very quickly to discuss solutions. Communication was fast and I think this has something to do with all the pressure on social media. The settlement reflects my contribution as a composer of the music of 'Culture'. I can't share details but I can confirm that I am very happy with the settlement. It is all agreed and settled."

Megan Ryte's "Culture" featuring A$AP Ferg and will.i.am dropped towards the end of November 2020. The plagiarised song apparently spoke out against the poaching of Black culture for capitalist gains. Ironically, the song itself is a cultural appropriation of gqom beats originally created by DJ Lag. South Africans did not take long to raise the alarm on the theft of DJ Lag's beats across social media.

DJ Lag reportedly stated that copyright is a legacy issue. Considering that not all musicians or artist have the finance, he said that he is privileged to have had the financial backing to take his case to court. The international 25-year-old DJ hopes that his win will send a strong message against copyright infringement in the music industry. DJ Lag said he was grateful to every single person that backed him against the profiteering of his song. The DJ recently released Stiff Pap's "Ngomoso" remix featuring Moonchild Sanelly to start off 2021.