Copyright Lawsuit Alleges Snoop Dogg, Diddy, and The Notorious B.I.G.’s Estate Used an Unauthorized Sample

news.law July 21, 2026

Some of hip-hop’s biggest names found themselves at the center of a new legal dispute. A copyright lawsuit alleged that two hit songs were borrowed from a decades-old funk track without permission. The case targeted Snoop Dogg, Sean “Diddy” Combs, the estate of The Notorious B.I.G., and several other artists and companies connected to the recordings.

The lawsuit focused on two charting songs from the early 2000s that allegedly sampled a 1980 composition without authorization. The complaint also claimed the songwriters only discovered the alleged infringement in 2024, years after both tracks had achieved commercial success.