The Baha Men won aGrammy in 2001 for their 2000 hit ‘Who Let the Dogs Out’. But this hit tune was allegedly initially conceived by Trinidadian singer Anslem Douglas and his producer Osbert Gurley in 1998 and released as ‘Doggie’. Douglas and Gurley entered into an agreement with Steve Greenberg, the producer, for the Baha Men’s version. Notwithstanding, a number of claims to the song were alleged over the years, but Douglas and Gurley are still listed as the only writers on the Baha Men version on ASCAP and BMI.

Douglas and Gurley were sued in 2001 by radio DJs Patrick Stephenson and Leroy Williams for copyright infringement. The case was settled so no ruling was made on infringement, but the accusation was that Stephenson and Williams coined the tagline ‘Who Let the Dogs Out, woof woof woof woof’ and created a radio jingle using these lines. All parties were clients of the same recording studio leading to an allegation of access, but it is questionable as to whether the tag line would meet the originality standard. It is also unclear as to whether the melody was used, or just the lyrics. Another allegation was made on social media in 2024 by Mannie Fresh but this was denied by Douglas.

Since copyright does not require registration, it can be asked how artists can prove that they created a song to defend against allegations? It is worth documenting the creation process and retaining records of the drafts of the song before the final record is released. It is important to recall though that copyright only protects against copying. ‘Poor Man’s Copyright’, that is, the process of mailing yourself a copy of the work does not validate or prove copyright originality, authorship or ownership, and in fact, if the only version of the work is in a sealed envelope that no one could access, then there is no basis for infringement. Additionally, for a viable claim, the work for which protection is claimed must meet the standard for originality, so it must not have been copied from a third party work.

Contact Clover® to arrange a review of your copyright documentation process to ensure you have the necessary evidence of creation to avoid any potential infringement claims. That's Clever. That's Clover®.

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