Sixth Circuit Court of Appeals Gets Funky, Dog

George Clinton via last.fm

Thanks to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Sixth Circuit, nobody but Funkadelic singer George Clinton can ever again lay claim to the lyric: "Bow, wow, wow, yippee, yo, yippee yea."

In Bridgeport Music, Inc. & Southport Music, Inc. v. UMG Recordings, Inc. & Universal Music Investments, Inc. (Case No. 07-5596), the appellate court upheld the trial court decision awarding $89,000 damages to Bridgeport Music, Inc., for Universal's appropriation of Clinton's lyric in Public Announcement's "D.O.G. in Me," a 1998 hip hop tune.

Bridgeport, which administers Clinton's musical opuses, sued to protect the lyrics introduced by Clinton and two other songwriters in the 1982 tune "Atomic Dog." The appellate court arrived at the damages amount based on sales of Public Annoucement's album, "All Work, No Play," that included "D.O.G. in Me."

As for "bow, wow, wow, yippee, yo, yippee,yea," Yo Yo Ma, Bow Wow, and other artists--you're on notice.