Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine have been involved in a legal battle over the royalties of Beats headphones. The two of them were sued in 2016 by a former business partner that claimed he was leftout of $100M worth of royalties. The trial started earlier this month and Dre and Iovine have maintained that they didn't do anything wrong in the case. Unfortunately, the jury did not agree with them and they will have to pay ex-business partner, Steven Lamar, millions.
Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine will have to pay Steven Lamar in the Beats Royalties case, TheBlast reports. The jury verdict sheet says Steven Lamar will receive a total of $25,247,350 in damages for the royalties he was owed from versions of Beats headphones. The jury sheet broke down the damages in three parts. Lamar will receive $7,448,838 for Studio 2/Remastered headphones, $14,856,721 for Studio 2 Wireless headphones and an additional $2,941,791 for the Studio 3.
Ahead of the jury's verdict, Dre and Iovine testified in the case and argued that they weren't as involved with the technological aspect of the headphones but were predominantly focused on the aesthetic and marketing of the product.
Steven Lamar previously made an agreement with Dre and Iovine over Beats before Apple's acquisition of the company in 2014. Apple bought Beats for $3B and Lamar felt that he was owed royalties for the products he helped developed.