Hov had time this week!
Source: Johnny Nunez / Getty
Hip-Hop mogul Dame Dash tried to cash in on the new wave of blockchain-based sales by auctioning off Jay-Z’s groundbreaking debut album “Reasonable Doubt” as an NFT, or non-fungible token. TMZ reports that Roc-A-Fella Records filed an unprecedented lawsuit against its co-founder for attempting to mint and sell the NFT without permission from the company. According to Page Six, attorney Alex Spiro filed new paperwork on behalf of the label Friday stating, “Dash had planned to sell at a SuperFarm Foundation online auction on Jun. 23… the copyright to Jay-Z’s album Reasonable Doubt, recognized as one of the greatest recordings in history.”
NFTs are often described as virtual trading cards, holding value for their digitally certified rare or one-of-a-kind status. However, NFT auction platform SuperFarm’s listing for the platinum album promised much more than bragging rights, “This marks a new milestone in the history of NFTs, entitling the new owner to future revenue generated by the unique asset….The newly minted NFT will prove ownership of the album’s copyright, transferring the rights to all future revenue generated by the album from Damon Dash to the auction winner.”
Roc-A-Fella already succeeded in shutting down next week’s sale, but also claim in the filing that “Dash is frantically scouting for another venue to make the sale….The sale of this irreplaceable asset must be stopped before it is too late, and Dash must be held accountable for his theft.” The album is a corporate asset that Dash shares equal ownership of with label co-founders Jay-Z and Kareem Burke.
Jay-Z is notoriously about his business when it comes to protecting ownership and controlling his image. This week he also sued photographer Jonathan Mannion., who shot the 1996 “Reasonable Doubt” album cover as well as other iconic images of Hov throughout the years. Although the images are Mannion’s creative work, the lawsuit asserts that the long-time collaborator had no right to use Jay-Z’s name or sell his image without permission. When asked to stop using these images, Mannion allegedly demanded millions of dollars in return.
It doesn’t matter if you were with Jay-Z shooting in the gym. He’ll see you in court!