Talk:Fuck tha Police

Untitled
It's not copyright violation: see Original Hip-Hop Lyrics Archive:. They have the lyrics to this song printed on a webpage, which I will link. 007 03:01, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)
 * song lyrics are all over the internet, but that doesn't necessarily give wiki permission to reprint. I'm looking around EMI's site (they're the label that I think now owns NWA catalog material) to see if there's a clear copyright policy. Wikipedia is going to be included in a linux software drop in the future, so there's a concerted effort to make sure everything is as 'clean' as possible.. copyvios, formatting, etc. Feco 03:03, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Yes, but OHHLA (Original Hip-Hop Lyrics Archive)has been doing it for years, and no one has raised objections. It is an established site. See: Fuck Tha Police Compete Lyrics. It's legit. 007 03:06, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * refer to . Note that they're careful not to use the magic word copyright. If individual lyrics were un-copyrightable, the site could claim copyright of the entire corpus as a compilation. This suggests that someone, somewhere owns copyright on the songs. Using "well, that other website got away with it" isn't the best argument to defend a copyvio.Feco 03:24, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Also, please leave the copyvio notice in place while the article is looked at by better judges of copyright. Feco 03:24, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Alright, let's wait and see then. Then you should note that NWA song lyrics are quoted in other Wikipedia articles, such as Straight Outta Compton. Those may also be copyvio... 007 03:37, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

See: for press coverage. 007 03:55, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

I believe that this lyric is copyrighted and that publishing part of it is not copywrite or by fair use. I looked at fair use (which doesn't provide legal advice, of course) and didn't understand precisely what counts as fair use, but Fair Use in a Nutshell says that "Only a court can determine with authority whether a particular use is a fair use." Fair use mentions quotes, but seems to be mostly about images. If we decide to quote a few lines to illustrate a point, I would be surprised if that was a copyright violation. I'm not sure that anything beyond that is necessary for an encyclopedia article. If we decide that Wikipedia might be prohibited from reproducing a whole stanza here, then at least we can link to OHHLA. OHHLA had legal trouble once. I think that it had to take down its audio samples, but not its lyrics. I'm not an American or a lawyer, so you might like to take this with a pinch of salt. Tim Ivorson 17:07, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * One of the fair-use tests can be described as a relative proportion test... WHAT percentage of the copyrighted work ended up on your use, and WHAT percentage of your use consists of the copyrighted work? In this case, 100% of the original lyrics were on our site, which would almost certainly exceed fair-use rules (courts have never put a firm threshold number on the relative proportion test). Feco 17:15, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * That depends on what you take as the copyrighted work. Reproduced here was the whole of the written form of that stanza, nearly one third of the written form of that lyric (it included three stanzas and Judge Dre's adjudication) and some smaller proportion of the audio version (my copy doesn't consist of only words, but also of voices and other sounds) or the album. I downloaded a 30 second sample of Public Enemy's Black Steel in the Hour of Chaos from Wikipedia. I think that that is a larger proportion of that copyrighted work because it contains the original audio. For what it's worth, my view is that even if the quotation is exempt from copyright (possible) and even if Wikipedia is brave enough to take advantage of any exemption (slightly less likely), this article would not benefit from such a long quote. Tim Ivorson 17:51, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Okay, here is the deal: I was planning on probably quoting the complete lyrics in the article, my view being that as long as someone started the article, it wouldn't be a stretch if the entire song was typed up: that's not necessary; but I would like to include at least the first four lines of Ice Cube's verse. And by the way, as Tim pointed out, less than one-third of the words to the song were reproduced: only Ice Cube's verse (there are two more verses, one by M.C. Ren, and one by Eazy E), plus a final line by Dr. Dre. 007 19:17, 14 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * The first four lines are a very good choice. I've thought more about linking to OHHLA here. The OHHLA FAQ says:
 * Do not place direct hyperlinks to any lyrics on this site.
 * I don't think that that request is legally enforceable, but it would be polite of Wikipedia to follow it. Unfortunately, the OHHLA page linking directly to the lyrics isn't very helpful. Tim Ivorson 11:46, 15 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Doing some research on the net has left me with the impression that it's generally ok to quote song lyrics, but it's best to ask first - do you think this necessitates an e-mail to the record label checking up on the legality of the entry?--PolPotPie 19:59, 18 Apr 2005 (UTC)


 * If we need permission, then that might be a problem. Any permission must be compatible with the GFDL. Tim Ivorson 13:22, 19 Apr 2005 (UTC)

Anybody see Ice Cube at a movie promo being serenaded by two real cops singing "Fuck the Police"? I saw it recently. He looked really confused and not happy about it.

Alternate version of this song?
Back in the 90's, a friend of mine had a version of this song (I assume a remix done by NWA) that was different than the version on the album. This version ended with what sounded like somebody swearing profusely in Spanish. Anybody know what version this is, and/or on what album it came from? Was hoping that the Wikipedia article might mention it, but doesn't. 70.253.67.214 (talk) 05:19, 27 August 2011 (UTC)
 * Answering my own question :) The name of the song is called Sa Prize (Part 2) and is on their 'efil4zaggin' album. So it's not actually a remix, but a sequel. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.253.67.214 (talk) 09:12, 28 August 2011 (UTC)

Request a fair use examination of this article with lyrics.
See discussion above and the article please. Ronbo76 05:57, 31 December 2006 (UTC)


 * wikipedia is not selling or claiming ownership, any one who disagrees must be a lawyer out for blood, or some facist corporation. —The preceding unsigned comment was added by 75.25.105.6 (talk) 19:32, 11 January 2007 (UTC).

Controversy?
I realize it was quite a few years ago, but if this sort of thing happened today wouldn't everyone just laugh at them? Like, "You were harrassing people on the street with a paintball gun and the police stopped you, and you're surprised? You're upset? That's somehow unjust?" XD —Preceding unsigned comment added by 64.122.63.142 (talk) 18:42, 15 October 2007 (UTC)

You're just hating^^^ —Preceding unsigned comment added by 70.253.134.220 (talk) 02:00, 28 February 2008 (UTC)

Well, they were thrown down on the pavement and held at gunpoint, which may have been somewhat extreme. It's not really about the NWA members' actual experiences with the police, though - that particular incident was, if I'm not mistaken, the only criminal activity any of NWA's members were ever involved in, with the exception of Eazy-E who used to deal drugs. The song's about other people's run-ins with the police. The reason the song was so popular is that it spoke to real people's experiences with police brutality, corruption, and racial profiling, even if it may not have actually happened to them.

--Oolinthu (talk) 18:43, 25 June 2009 (UTC)

Fair use rationale for Image:Thesefoolsaregangsters.jpg
Image:Thesefoolsaregangsters.jpg is being used on this article. I notice the image page specifies that the image is being used under fair use but there is no explanation or rationale as to why its use in this Wikipedia article constitutes fair use. In addition to the boilerplate fair use template, you must also write out on the image description page a specific explanation or rationale for why using this image in each article is consistent with fair use.

Please go to the image description page and edit it to include a fair use rationale. Using one of the templates at Fair use rationale guideline is an easy way to insure that your image is in compliance with Wikipedia policy, but remember that you must complete the template. Do not simply insert a blank template on an image page.

If there is other fair use media, consider checking that you have specified the fair use rationale on the other images used on this page. Note that any fair use images uploaded after 4 May, 2006, and lacking such an explanation will be deleted one week after they have been uploaded, as described on criteria for speedy deletion. If you have any questions please ask them at the Media copyright questions page. Thank you.

BetacommandBot (talk) 21:58, 26 November 2007 (UTC)

crass
'crass' means 'grossly stupid', and i don't think that that's what's intended when quoting those lyrics. it should be something like 'extreme', etc. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 24.22.13.29 (talk) 20:24, 17 December 2008 (UTC)

n****
Why is the word "nigga'" censored? If we're adult enough to include the word "Fuck" in the title and repeatedly in the body of a work of academia, why not "nigga" or "nigger", especially in a quote?

That's a good question. Wikifixer1990 (talk) 17:39, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

Libertarianism
I have heard this song used very often in Libertarian seminars and gatherings. it seems to be a big thing for some Libertarians esp. black Libertarians. Therefore Ive added the libertarian sidebar. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.174.97.34 (talk) 16:36, 3 March 2011 (UTC)

Removed Libertarian sidebar. Be reasonable. 199.204.56.10 (talk) 18:22, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

How is this not reasonable? —Preceding unsigned comment added by 129.174.97.34 (talk) 15:23, 29 March 2011 (UTC)

Themes section is a complete farce.
Whoever made up the themes section has an axe to grind. Not only do the NWA never even mention white crime in Fuck tha Police, the song is about police brutality and racial profiling! Yet the author of "Themes" has it that the song is about white crime. To try and source this, the author uses two books, one from 1962 (twenty-six years before this song was released), and 1975 (eleven years before the song was released). Finally, as proof that the author is merely grinding an axe, we have this little treasure: "The stereotype of all blacks being criminals now seems to be completely foolish." Ice Cube only went so far into stereotypes when he rapped about police searching his "looking for the product, thinking ever nigga is selling narcotics". There is not a lyric about "all blacks being criminals". This is original research and thoughts by the author of Themes.

Fuck tha Police is about Police Brutality! About persecution! About the struggles of urban black youths! It has nothing to do with white people beyond racist white police officers. It never went into the struggles of all black people.

I'm deleting it. It's a complete farce, and it is clearly meant to incite. Wikifixer1990 (talk) 17:32, 7 July 2013 (UTC)

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Wiki Education assignment: HipHop Music Culture
— Assignment last updated by WLP3222 (talk) 19:23, 28 February 2023 (UTC)

'Da' or 'tha'?
If anyone's watching this page, the song is intermittently—but in pretty equal numbers—refered to as both Fuck tha Police and Fuck da Police.Whichever is true, we shold be consistent. If they're somehow both true—e.g. a misprint in creation or registration—then we should have it as an alternative name and an explanatory footnote. ——Serial 18:07, 29 February 2024 (UTC)