NEW YORK - Best-selling rapper Ludacris testified Thursday at a copyright infringement trial that he never heard an expression that he allegedly swiped to create his 2003 hit "Stand Up."
Ludacris, whose real name is Chris Bridges, also said he never received copies of a disk containing the song "Straight Like That" by the East Orange, N.J., group I.O.F. The group is suing him in U.S. District Court in Manhattan.
When lawyer Mel Sachs asked the rap star if he was really telling the jury he had never received copies of the song at three shows in 2002 and 2003, Ludacris replied, "I'm definitely saying that, sir."
Sachs called Ludacris as a witness after two days in which the attorney tried to prove that members of the New Jersey group had made sure to get him copies of their song before he wrote "Stand Up."
As soon as he took the stand, Ludacris denied ever hearing the expression "straight like that," much less the entire song.
Sachs asked: "Sir, before you wrote the song, 'Stand Up,' did you ever hear the term, 'straight like that?'"
"No sir," the singer responded. "I never heard anyone use the term."
Later, he added, "I do not know what the term 'straight like that' means, sir."
Ludacris co-wrote "Stand Up" with Kanye West, who was in court Thursday and expected to testify before the one-week trial ends.
Ludacris has been praised for his music and his acting roles as Anthony in the Oscar-winning "Crash" and as Skinny Black in "Hustle and Flow."
West has won six Grammy Awards for his two multiplatinum albums, "The College Dropout" and "Late Registration."
A lawyer for the rappers and EMI April Music Inc., Christine Lepera, has asked the jury to reject the claims of BMS Entertainment/Heat Music LLC.
At issue in the trial are the words "like that,"
which Sachs said were repeated more than 80 times in each song. Ludacris testified that he believes the words are repeated fewer than 80 times in his song. 
"Straight Like That" never made it beyond some air time on college radio after copies of it were released in September 2001. "Stand Up" was released in the fall of 2003 on Ludacris' album "Chicken and Beer," and became a huge hit.
The trial will determine liability. If liability is found, a second phase of the trial will assess damages.
This is quite embarassing.
