The longstanding beef between 50 Cent and Rick Ross has since become legendary in itself, standing as a years-long battle filled with lyrical, petty and personal jabs coming from both sides. Their latest dispute deals with one of 50's breakout hits and an unauthorized remix by Ross that unfortunately just ended badly for the Power co-creator.
Billboard reports that 50 Cent has officially lost the battle in his five-year-old lawsuit against Ross over a sample of "In Da Club" on Rozay's 2015 mixtape Renzel Remixes. The Get Rich or Die Tryin’ hitmaker originally sued for $2 million, citing trademark infringement and that his rights to publicity were violated. Unfortunately for 50, the agreement he signed with Shady/Aftermath at the time legally states, "Jackson owns no copyright interest in 'In Da Club,'" also giving them "perpetual and exclusive rights during the term of [the Recording Agreement]." If that wasn't enough, there was also a non-exclusive right in place for Shady/Aftermath to forever use 50’s name and likeness "for the purposes of trade, or for advertising purposes ... in connection with the marketing and exploitation of Phonograph Records and Covered Videos."
With those terms in place, a lower court ruled in Rick Ross' favor when 50 Cent first sued back in 2018. This past Wednesday (Aug 19), the U.S. Appeals Court decided to uphold the decision.
While the court did agree that Shady/Aftermath may have rights to sue, Fif would have to go through them or just sue them for not protecting his likeness properly. Either way, the Bawse is definitely somewhere laughing right now.
Let us know if you think this was a fair ruling by sounding off down below in the comments.