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    8Oct, 2022
    Congress To Review RAP Act Barring Use of Lyrics In Court

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    Young Thug RICO Mugshot

    Source: Fulton County PD / Fulton County Sheriff’s Department

    The movement to prohibit the usage of rap lyrics in criminal cases by prosecutors has now reached the federal level, as a new bill with that aim has been introduced in the United States Congress.

    On Wednesday (July 27th), the RAP Act was introduced on the floor of the House of Representatives by Democratic Representatives Hank Johnson (GA-04) and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16). The Restoring Artistic Protection Act looks to protect artists from the wrongful usage of their lyrics against them in civil and criminal court cases. Representative Johnson shared the news through his Twitter account.

    “Freedom of speech is the constitutional foundation the framers thought necessary to enable a new and free society to craft not only its own destiny through commerce and innovations, but through culture, expression, and art,” said Rep. Johnson in the official

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    3Oct, 2022
    Bill Meant to Ban Lyrics From Being Used as Evidence Brought to Congress

    The Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act), aimed at quelling the use of rap lyrics as permissible evidence in court, was introduced in the United States Congress on Wednesday, by Congressman Hank Johnson (D-GA) and Jamaal Bowman (D-NY).

    Per Variety, the bill would add a presumption to the Federal Rules of Evidence laws in order to “limit the admissibility of evidence of a defendant’s creative or artistic expression against such defendant in a criminal proceeding, and for other purposes.”

    “Freddy Mercury did not confess to having ‘just killed a man’ by putting ‘a gun against his head’ and ‘’pulling the trigger,” a release announcing the proposed legislation read. “Bob Marley did not confess to having shot a sheriff. And Johnny Cash did not confess to shooting ‘a man in Reno, just to watch him die.’”

    Rep. Bowman added that rap music in particular needs to be protected.

    “Rap, Hip Hop

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    30Sep, 2022
    ‘RAP Act’ Would Bar Prosecutors From Using Song Lyrics as Evidence

    Reps. Jamaal Bowman (D-NY) and Hank Johnson (D-GA) are proposing a bill in the House that would protect music artists’ lyrics from being legally used against them. The Restoring Artistic Protection (RAP) Act will prohibit prosecutors in criminal cases and lawyers in civil cases to use song lyrics as evidence against the artist.

    ‘Our judicial system disparately criminalizes Black and brown lives, including Black and brown creativity,’ Bowman said in a statement. ‘We cannot imprison our talented artists for expressing their experiences nor will we let their creativity be suppressed.’

    The bill comes a few months after popular rappers Gunna and Young Thug, as well as several other individuals associated with Young Thug’s YSL brand, were indicted on gang-related RICO charges in May 2022. Prosecutors in Fulton County, Georgia, where the indictments were based, have used the artists’ rap lyrics as evidence in their cases.

    Multiple states have explored

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    23Sep, 2022
    RAP Act Introduced in Congress Would Bar the Use of Lyrics as Evidence in Court Proceedings

    In what is positioned to address a growing issue for music artists, particularly in the hip-hop genre, a new bill has been introduced in the U.S. House of Representatives by Congressmen Hank Johnson (GA-04) and Jamaal Bowman (NY-16). Titled the Restoring Artistic Protection Act (RAP Act), it seeks to protect artists from the the use of their lyrics against them as evidence in criminal and civil proceedings.

    As a release announcing the proposed legislation astutely notes referencing the 2021 case Bey-Cousin v. Powell: “Freddy Mercury did not confess to having ‘just killed a man’ by putting ‘a gun against his head’ and ‘’pulling the trigger. Bob Marley did not confess to having shot a sheriff. And Johnny Cash did not confess to shooting ‘a man in Reno, just to watch him die.’”

    More from Variety

    Specifically, the RAP Act would impact the Federal Rules of Evidence by adding a presumption

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