A federal judge dismissed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group by Tuff City Records, claiming that Mary J. Blige’s song “Real Love” illegally borrowed from “Impeach the President” by the Honey Drippers.

Judge Dale Ho ruled that the two songs are so different that an ordinary listener would not recognize the sample.

The judge highlighted the differences between the two songs, noting that “Impeach the President” is a protest song in the soul/funk genre, while “Real Love” is a hip-hop soul song about heartbreak.

Tuff City, known for its involvement in copyright litigation, had previously sued over unlicensed samples in tracks by artists such as Jay-Z, the Beastie Boys, and LL Cool J.

This verdict is interesting in that the judge didn’t acknowledge that “Real Love” samples Audio Two’s classic song “Top Billin'” which actually sampled the kick and snare drums directly from “Impeach The President”

So instead of talking about the production and music the judge made their ruling based on the vocals and lyrics and the differences there…Again, extremely weird which would make you think that Tuff City would have grounds for an appeal…Guess we’ll have to wait and see!?