Jay Z has been in hot water when it comes to lawsuits but it looks like he's trying to have sound engineer Chauncey Mahan's co-authorship lawsuit scrapped.
According to Billboard, the Jigga Man has filed a motion attempting to dismiss the lawsuit brought forward by Mahan asking a judge to declare him the co-author of 45 Jay Z songs.
"Big Pimpin," "Things That U Do" and unpublished outtakes from Jay's fourth studio album, Vol 3... The Life and Times of S. Carter are among the songs named in the lawsuit.
The hip-hop mogul and his legal team argue the statute of limitations have passed and that the plaintiff had been silent until only recently regarding his supposed contributions to Jay Z's records. The rapper also noted past accusations that Mahan "attempted to wrongfully extract a large sum of money in exchange for the return of computer sound files."
"After 14 years of silence, Petitioner's claims (and his attempt to use the federal courts as part of his shakedown scheme) are outrageous and wholly without merit," a memorandum by the defense reads in part. "More significantly, for purposes of this Motion, the claims are plainly barred by the three-year statute of limitations contained in the Copyright Act, and have been for more than a decade."
Mahan explained why he should be considered a joint author in an 84-page complaint.
He states he "was in charge of setting up or scheduling the recording sessions and studio time, tracking the prototype beat of the so-called 'producer,' pre-mixing the beat, sample editing, choosing the recording methodology and setting up the microphones, vocal recording, vocal coaching, vocal compositing, multi-track mixing, song arranging, pitch shifting, additional editing, and pre-mastering a final version through use of a digital audio workstation such as Pro Tools."
Roc-A-Fella Records has attempted to distance itself from the lawsuit claiming Jay Z had transferred his interest in the recordings to Universal Music making them an irrelevant party to the litigation.
