To Pay Or Not To Pay: Diddy Allegedly Owes Sting $5,000 A Day For The Rest Of His Life

Just like films, songs are intellectual properties of their respective owners, and are heavily copyrighted. And because of that nobody should use songs of others without permission, or without paying.

But if money is not an issue, so let it be.

Sean Love Combs, also known by his stage names Puff Daddy, P. Diddy, or Diddy, is an American rapper, actor, record producer, and record executive. Born in New York City, he was a talent director before founding making his debut career in the music industry in 1990.

7 years into his music career, in 1997, he was found using a sample of Sting's iconic 1983 song Every Breath You Take for his song, and because of that, it was rumored that he paid $2,000 a day for violation.

It turned out that the number if significantly higher.

In a tweet, Diddy said the actual number is $5,000 per day.

The case here happened when Diddy and his Bad Boy labelmates collaborated on a tribute song for the fallen The Notorious B.I.G., who died in 1997 at the age of 24, through a song called I'll Be Missing You.

The thing is, Diddy used a sample of Sting's hit song.

In an interview, Sting said that the Diddy asked for permission to sample the single only after it had been released, and that Sting was fine with that.

Sting confirmed that Diddy asked him for permission to use the song "after the fact."

And because of that, The Police frontman offered Diddy a chance to pay up in royalties.

But that royalty spans for years.

In fact, Sting hinted that Diddy is forever in debt.

This was confirmed by Sting in a resurfaced clip of The Breakfast Club 2018 interview, where he said that Diddy has to pay him money "for the rest of his life."

Diddy has no hard feeling, especially because after the song's release, the track quickly topped the Billboard Hot 100 chart and earn Diddy awards at the 1997 Billboard Music Awards ceremony for top rap artist and top rap song.

"Love to my brother @OfficialSting," Diddy added in the Twitter post alongside a resurfaced clip from the rocker's 2018 interview with The Breakfast Club, where he first spoke about the agreement, initially stating that he receives $2,000 a day from Diddy.

More or less, Sting had made it clear about it back in 2003, when he said that the uncleared sample has netted him a lot of money.

"Those guys just take your shit, put it on a record and deal with the legality later," Sting said. "Elton John told me, ‘You gotta hear [I’ll Be Missing You], you’re gonna be a millionaire!’ I said, ‘I am a millionaire!’ He said, ‘You’re gonna be a millionaire twice over!’ I put a couple of my kids through college with the proceeds, and me and P. Diddy are good pals still."

Diddy also indicated that the pair are actually friends.

"We're very good friends now," he said.

"It was a beautiful version of that song."

However, in a follow up tweet, Diddy called the payment a prank.

"I want y’all to understand I was joking!" Diddy wrote on Twitter, following a heads up that a major publication in the entertainment industry has created an article for it

"It’s called being Facetious! Me and @OfficialSting have been friends for a long time! He never charged me $3K or $5K a day for Missing You. He probably makes more than $5K a day from one of the biggest songs in history.”

What Diddy is trying to say in his follow up tweet is that, he isn't really keeping Sting’s bills paid.

While Diddy may have paid Sting, but Sting doesn't really care if Diddy is keeping up his tab.

Diddy turned around and insisted it was all just a joke.