E-40's been a legend not only in his region of the Bay Area but throughout hip hop. People from the midwest, east coast and down south have stated 40's influence on their music. The impact of his musical contributions have transcended music and into literature. Back in November, the rapper filed a lawsuit against an author who wrote the book "Captain Save A Hoe" over the title. It was a direct rip of E-40's 1993 song of the same name. However, the author has filed a countersuit against 40 over the name in order to use the name for her book.
E-40's battle against author, Erika Kane, over "Captain Save A Hoe" has been tested in a new countersuit, Billboard reports. Back in 2014, E-40 filed to trademark "Captain Save A Hoe" for the use of clothing and entertainment services specified as "an ongoing series featuring comedy, action and adventure provided through television, online webcasts and radio broadcasts." However, that's has yet to be approved and the filing apparently doesn't include books either, which is being argued differently by his attorney.
Kane and her publishing company, Vodka & Milk Publishing are using his incomplete trademark request as their backing in their countersuit. They continue to say that Kane's and E-40 consumer are entirely different and wouldn't confuse the rapper as someone who's behind the book.
"They would have different consumers," Vodka & Milk Publishing attorney, Corey Boddie says. "So that's the defense that we have in this case."
They also argue that 40 hasn't lost any money because of this. In addition, they're also seeking damages that 40 caused by reportedly requesting Amazon to remove the book from their site which they say is a breach of contract.
However, it doesn't look like E-40's stressing too hard about it. His attorney, Michael P. Martin, says the counterclaim "lacks merit" and that they're already planning to file a motion to dismiss the case. E-40 has reportedly been working on a series surrounding the "Captain Save A Hoe" character.
"The Defendants' decision to use E-40's well known character and song title without his authorization gave us no choice but to enforce his rights or risk losing them," Martin told Billboard, "In addition to his rights in the composition, song title and lyrics, E-40 holds senior trademark rights to the mark 'Captain Save a Hoe' for clothing as well as an entertainment series that he is developing. The series of books published by Defendant infringes upon these rights because books and entertainment series, regardless of the medium, are related properties."
We'll see how this one plays out.