JAY-Z is facing legal backlash from The City of New York through its Department of Social Services for his handling of Dame Dash's attempt to sell off his stake in Roc-A-Fella. Gerald E. Singleton, an attorney for The City, has requested a pre-motion conference and stay of the auction sale. The move comes after JAY's bombshell claim that copyright ownership of Reasonable Doubt will revert back to him in 2031 regardless of who buys Dame's shares.
“JAY-Z has issued widely publicized statements warning potential bidders that copyright ownership will revert back to him in 2031,” Singleton wrote in a letter to Judge Robert W. Lehrburger, as caught by AllHipHop. “Those statements are false and extremely damaging to the City’s interests in ensuring that the auction will generate sufficient funds to satisfy all existing child support arrearages and secure future child support payments.” Additionally, lawyers for Roc-A-Fella are allegedly withholding critical royalty information, for which Singleton said The City will likely file motions for turnover orders against the company. “The auction should be conducted in a manner that will bring the highest price for the benefit of affected judgment creditors,” Singleton added.
JAY-Z & Dame Dash During The Launch Of The 40/40 Club
Dame weighed in on the latest update on Instagram on Sunday night, denying the validity of JAY-Z's recent claims. "The State of NY has stepped in and filed the following to the courts… Jay-Z’s statements to the press have poisoned the environment for the auction," he began. "He has claimed that he has a termination right under the Copyright Act and that the rights to Reasonable Doubt will revert to him in six years. In fact, he has no such termination right and RAF is entitled to the renewal term, which is now 67 years,meaning it will own the copyright rights until the year 2098. In other words, the highest possible auction price could be more than ten times higher than is likely now, given Jay-Z’s and RAF actions. RAF is complicit by its inaction in pushing back against such false statements."
Dame Dash Calls Out JAY-Z
Dame is attempting to sell his shares in an effort to cover a judgment against him to film producer Josh Webber over the film Dear Frank. Check out Dame's full comments on the situation below. Be on the lookout for further updates on JAY-Z and Dame Dash on HotNewHipHop.
[Via]
