Jay Z got off easy this week in when it came to court cases. First it was ruled that he didn't need to be deposed in an ongoing lawsuit against himself and Damon Dash regarding whether the designer of the Roc-A-Fella logo had been compensated properly. Then, yesterday, it was announced that he couldn't be sued for the one-syllable "oh" featured in "Run This Town" that plaintiff TufAmerica claimed he stole from Eddie Bo's "Hook & Sling Part 1."
It's a busy life for one of entertainment's biggest figures. If you thought these lawsuits seem sketchy, you have no idea. Hov's been busy in court this year, or at least his lawyers have been busy fending off claims. Here's five other lawsuits brought against the rapper this year, starting with the least ridiculous and going south as we go along.
05) Chauncey Mahan
If you recall, Chauncey Mahan is the engineer who claimed Hov stole upward of 45 songs from him. Mahan first generated headlines by holding recordings such as "Big Pimpin'" hostage, demanding $100,000. That bit of skeez led much of popular opinion to swing back toward Jay but the lawsuit carries on and Mahan's charges are the most likely of any mentioned in this article to actually come through. Mahan may be right that a young Sean Carter was a "stupid kid smoking blunts" and not protecting his intellectual property, but that doesn't mean the courts will agree with him.
04) Dr. Francois de Cassagnol
Call him psychic, but Dr. Francois de Cassagnol had a hunch that the New Jersey Nets would be making the jump to Brooklyn more than a decade before they actually did so. Or so he claims. Hence the good doctor filed for trademarks on the phrase "Brooklyn Nets" in preparation for a lawsuit such as this. That made Jay Z and the fellow owners in the team and the Barclays Center guilty (allegedly) of infringing this. He's seeking $600 million in damages. Unfortunately for him, legal authorities suggest that de Cassagnol actually filed for the trademark long after the formal announcement had been made...and he did so in Louisiana. The NBA's federal trademark trumps that. Jay Z sold his stake in the team to Jason Kidd earlier this year.
03) Joel McDonald
Watch The Throne was possibly the most anticipated album of 2011, as it featured two of the biggest rappers in the game—Jay and Kanye West—collaborating together. Seems kind of fishy that pair would need to steal songs, but that's exactly what amateur emcee Joel "Joel Mac" McDonald claims they did. One day he was selling his burnt wares outside of the Mercer Hotel in New York City when producer Mike Dean bought one. Much to McDonald's surprise, he found his track "Made in America" featured on Watch The Throne. The story is that Dean took the track to the duo and they dropped their own version...without even bothering to change the name. Kind of sloppy.
02) Richard Dupree Jr.
At least the pair only stole one song from McDonald...according to a lawsuit from a California state inmate, Jay, 'Ye and Bey stole more than 3,000 songs from Richard Dupree Jr. by coordinating with the CIA, FBI and Department of Homeland Security. It's one of many lawsuits brought by the inmate, who has also lodged complaints against a porn star for stealing his identity while he's been imprisoned. All of the lawsuits involve settlements that include freeing him from prison, since the government is one of the plaintiffs. He's willing to take chump change from the musicians...a mere $2.4 billion.
01) Tina Seals
Money is one thing...even if a cat sues for millions, it's still just money. It gets scary when people bring your children into the settlement...literally. Tina Seals sued Beyoncé and Jay Z like this, alleging that she is the true biological mother of Ivy Blue Carter and the couple had payed her to deliver the baby. Now she wants the two year-old back. A) This isn't how being a surrogate mother works and B) what the f---? In case you weren't convinced already that Seals has a few screws loose, this isn't the first time she's attempted to kidnap someone's child via litigation. Another celebrity couple she claims to have birthed an heir (again, literally) to is Prince William and Kate Middleton. At least in that case, Seals kind of becomes heir to the Queenship if she succeeds. Or something.
