Mac Miller Sued By Aquarian Dream For Uncleared "Faces" Sample

On the heels of a controversial copyright lawsuit win against Robin Thicke and Pharrell for the Marvin Gaye estate, Mac Miller is now being sued by 1970s funk band Aquarian Dream for lifting a portion of their song “Yesterday (Was So Nice Today)” for his mixtape Faces.

According to TMZ, Aquarian Dream singer Jacques Burvick brought the lawsuit forward after hearing Mac Miller’s Faces track “Therapy” which samples the band’s song. Burvick claims that Mac Miller’s camp was aware of the infringement and even tried unsuccessfully to contact the band to secure an official go-ahead for using the sample.

Aquarian Dream is seeking $150,000 in damages, citing more than 700,000 downloads of the mixtape. While Miller’s “Therapy” was featured on a free-to-download mixtape and not a retail project, a distinction that has sometimes favored the sampling artist in the past due to the work not being sold commercially, this isn’t the first time Miller has got into hot water over a mixtape-bound sample.

Back in 2012, Lord Finesse infamously tried to sue Mac Miller for ten million dollars after the Pittsburgh emcee used the DITC artist’s “Hip 2 Da Game” production without permission. That case as well hinged in part on Mac Miller using the production for a semi-commercial mixtape release and was later settled out of court shortly after the suit was filed.