Kendrick Lamar being sued by Bill Withers for using 'unauthorised' sample

'The musical composition ‘I Do This’ consists of nothing more than so-called Rap or Hip Hop lyrics set to the existing music'

Kendrick Lamar is already making new music. (Chris Weeks/Getty)

The number of artists facing plagiarism claims seems to be exponentially growing every day. Notably, the creators of "Blurred Lines" were made to pay $7.3 million to Marvin Gaye’s estate, while more recently Led Zeppelin were accused of infringing copyright laws.

Kendrick Lamar and his label Top Dawg Entertainment are next up to face the jury. They’re being sued for using a Bill Withers sample on the song “I Do This” - off of the Compton Rapper’s self-titled 2013 EP - without permission.

"The musical composition ‘I Do This’ consists of nothing more than new, so-called Rap or Hip Hop lyrics, set to the existing music of ‘Don't Want You To Stay,’” reads the suit filed by Mattie Music Group according to Billboard.

"Plaintiffs are informed and believe that Defendant Lamar has openly admitted that his musical composition 'I Do This' copies the music of 'Don't Want You To Stay' with a thumb to the nose, catch me if you can attitude.”

As noted in the report, Lamar’s track is still being offered for sale and download on "various internet music providers.”

This isn’t the first time Lamar has faced legal difficulty: last year a freelance photographer sued him for using a photo without permission for the artwork of “The Blacker the Berry” off To Pimp a Butterfly.

He was also hit with a lawsuit in 2014, when Eric Woolfson of The Alan Parsons Project believed Lamar had sampled the song "Old and Wise" without consent on "Keisha's Song (Her Pain),” from Section.80.

In other recent court cases, Jay Z was sued for his track “Big Pimpin’”, Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars for “Uptown Funk”, and Sam Smith for “Stay With Me”.