Song Clearance Sheet
3 sources citedGet Up Offa That Thing
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Funk1970s118BPM
E majKey
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The verdict
Cleared After Dispute
A real, formally filed 2002 family lawsuit over these specific royalties — Brown had assigned the credit to his wife and young daughters to shield income from the IRS, and the daughters later sued him over it. The suit’s existence and terms are confirmed; its final resolution is not, and isn’t assumed. Presented factually.
Quick Facts
Released1976
GenreFunk, Disco
LabelPolydor Records
ProducerJames Brown
More infoWikipedia → · Discogs →
Who you need to ask
The credited writers — Deidre, Deanna & Yamma Brown (credit assigned by James Brown for tax reasons)
Songfacts → · checked Jul 2026
The current administrator — Not confirmed — needs a Songview/Discogs lookup; note the 2002 family-royalty suit
Billboard → · checked Jul 2026
Has it been reused?
Yes — MARRS sampled Brown’s “Watch me!” shout on “Pump Up the Volume” (1987). Brown’s biggest late-1970s hit.
Do they allow reuse?
No standalone policy found; note the credit-assignment history and the filed-but-unresolved 2002 family lawsuit in Rights Status.
Who Owns It
Licenses explained →The two permissions you need, and who holds them
Credit deliberately assigned to family (for tax reasons)Due to serious IRS trouble over unpaid back taxes (reportedly $28M+ across his lifetime per one source), Brown assigned the official songwriting credit for this song to his then-wife Deidre and daughters Deanna and Yamma — who were 6 and 3 at the time of writing — specifically to shield the royalties from seizure toward his tax debt. Stated factually.
A later family lawsuit (filed 2002; resolution unconfirmed)In 2002, Brown’s now-adult daughters Deanna Brown Thomas and Dr. Yamma Brown Lumar filed a federal suit against their own father seeking $1M+ in back royalties/damages for 25 songs (incl. this one) they were credited on but say they were never paid for — alleging a family grudge tied to Deanna having had him involuntarily committed for addiction treatment in 1998. His lawyer reportedly acknowledged ~$66,000 owed and offered $198,000 contingent on the daughters surrendering their copyright ownership. The suit’s FINAL RESOLUTION is NOT confirmed in this pass — flagged as filed, not resolved.
The recording (current administrator)Not confirmed
Receipts
Every public mention of terms, policy, or past deals we've found
Who actually got paid
Brown’s ex-wife Diedre Jenkins, also nominally a co-credited writer, was reportedly the only one of the three nominal credit-holders Brown actually allowed to receive her share of royalties.
Billboard · read it →
A spontaneous origin, meant for himself
Brown has described performing to a seated, unresponsive Fort Lauderdale crowd — dehydrated and depressed after a hard show, he spontaneously shouted the song’s core line, later reflecting he “probably meant” it for himself as much as the audience. No lyrics reproduced.
Songfacts · read it →
Can You Use It for Free?
How to check PD →Is it public domain?No
Sample History
—
Times sampled
Sampled on MARRS’ “Pump Up the Volume”
Covers
—
First flip
Big names who used itMARRS
Who to Contact
GU
James Brown estate / credited family writers
Credit was assigned to family; a 2002 royalty suit is filed-but-unresolved
What they'll chargeNobody's shared numbers yet
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Page history · 2 updates
Jul 2026Page created — full research (Research Queue Batch 9)
Jul 2026BPM/Key pending the automated GetSongBPM/Deezer pass