New York – New York District court Judge Denise Cote ruled in favor of U2 against songwriter Paul Rose, who had claimed that his 1988 instrumental “Nae Slappin’” was “virtually note for note” the same as the guitar riff to U2’s “The Fly”
Rose asked the court for $5 million in damages from U2 and UMG Recordings Inc., who released the song under their Island Records label in 1991.
In her ruling, the Judge noted that the 13 second clip in question wasn’t a ‘sufficiently substantial’ portion of the track to be a protectable ‘fragment’ of the work.
