In its legal docs, the record label claims that the rap mogul, who serves as its co-founder, planned to sell the NFT in a since-canceled auction despite now having the authority to sell the NFT.
- Jun 19, 2021
AceShowbiz - Roc-a-Fella Records is suing its co-founder Dame Dash. A new report suggests that the music label has filed a lawsuit against Dame for allegedly attempting to mint and sell Jay-Z's "Reasonable Doubt" album as a non-fungible token (NFT).
In the legal docs, which are obtained by TMZ, Rock-a-Fella claims that Dame planned to sell the NFT in a since-canceled auction despite now having the authority to seel the NFT. While Dame fails to sell it, the label, which is represented by attorney Alex Spiro, wants to make sure that the hip-hop mogul will not do it again in the furture.
Spiro adds in the documents that Dame is "frantically scouting for another venue to make the sale" in order to pull in big bucks from the current hype over NFTs. Additionally, the label demands that Dame "turn over any NFTs of 'Reasonable Doubt' he may have already minted."
Dame has yet to comment on the allegations.
The lawsuit arrives after Jay-Z sued Jonathan Mannion, the photographer for "Reasonable Doubt" cover as well as other iconic images of him, for profiting off his likeness. In court documents filed on Tuesday, June 15, the hip-hop mogul accused Jonathan of "exploiting" his name and images without his consent and earning thousands of dollars from them.
"Mannion has developed a highly-profitable business by selling copies of photographs of JAY-Z on Jonathan's website and retail store, and by selling licenses to others to use JAY-Z's image," the complaint read. "Mannion has done so on the arrogant assumption that because he took those photographs, he can do with them as he pleases."
It continued, "JAY-Z never gave Mannion the right to use his likeness for these or any other purposes. And without that permission, Mannion has no legal right to do so. JAY-Z has asked Mannion to stop, but he refuses to do so." Hov added that Jonathan, whom he hired back in 1996, demanded "tens of millions of dollars to put an end to Mannion's use of [his] likeness."
In response to the lawsuit, Jonathan's representative said in a statement, "Mr. Mannion has created iconic images of Mr. Carter over the years, and is proud that these images have helped to define the artist that Jay-Z is today." The rep added, "We are confident that the First Amendment protects Mr. Mannion's right to sell fine art prints of his copyrighted works, and will review the complaint and respond in due course."
