Donald Glover Emerges Victorious in Lawsuit Over 2018 Hit ‘This Is America’

On the heels of the success of his new Prime Video series, Swarm, Donald Glover is celebrating yet another win—this time, in connection with his 2018 hit song, “This Is America.”

Per HypeBeast, over the weekend, a federal Manhattan judge officially dismissed the copyright infringement lawsuit filed against the rapper (who also goes by Childish Gambino) and actor back in 2021 by another rapper named Kidd Wes (legal name Emelike Nwosuocha). As previously reported by The Root at the time, the suit was brought on based off the claim that chorus and rap flow of Gambino’s song was “unmistakably substantially similar, if not practically identical” to his 2016 song “Made in America.” However, U.S. District Judge Victor Marrero didn’t see it that way.

Here’s HypeBeast with more:

Judge Marrero ruled that “[a] cursory comparison with the challenged composition reveals that the content of the choruses is entirely different and not substantially similar.” He also noted that the lyrics of Kidd Wes, who filed the lawsuit against Glover in 2021, were a “short, simple, self-aggrandizing proclamation” while “This Is America” touched on “what America means and how it is perceived.”

In addition, the Manhattan federal judge explained that the “flow” of the two songs are not protected by copyrights as they “lack sufficient originality” while “no reasonable jury” will agree that the lyrics are too similar in nature to be labelled as copyright infringement. Finally, Nwosuocha had failed to attain a federal copyright registration for his song, making the dismissal of the complaint warranted. “More could be said on the ways these songs differ, but no more airtime is needed to resolve this case,” Judge Marrero wrote.