Are they kidding? Louisiana rapper Juvenile and wannabe rapper D.J. Jubilee have gone to court over who owns the rights to a song that included the poetic four-word phrase "back that ass up."
Two rappers fighting? Whoa. That's new.
Rather than shooting each other, they took their case to court to settle the matter. It seems Juvenile's hit song sold 4 million CDs and grossed more than $40 million in sales. D.J. Jubilee's song, if anyone ever heard it, was not a success. D.J. Jubilee works as a special education teacher.
, Bruce Schewe, a partner in New Orleans' Phelps Dunbar, says his client, Juvenile, is pleased with the decision.
Juvenile viewed the copyright suit filed against him as a personal affront, Schewe says. "It was a claim of theft, and he was offended by that," Schewe says.
"It was entirely a lyric case. I was never able to get the plaintiff to concede that," Schewe says. "The real question was whether the phrase was the hook in either song and was novel in either song."
Nathan Gisclair, a partner in New Orleans' Montgomery Barnett Brown Read Hammond & Mintz who represents D.J. Jubilee, says the opinion is disappointing -- it gives little guidance on how plaintiffs should litigate cases such as this one in the future.
In its opinion, the 5th Circuit noted that D.J. Jubilee contended "that the district court committed reversible error by excluding, as hearsay, several newspaper articles that purported to find strong similarities between Juvenile's and Jubilee's songs."
Bruce Schewe, a partner in New Orleans' Phelps Dunbar, says his client, Juvenile, is pleased with the decision.
Juvenile viewed the copyright suit filed against him as a personal affront, Schewe says. "It was a claim of theft, and he was offended by that," Schewe says.
"It was entirely a lyric case. I was never able to get the plaintiff to concede that," Schewe says. "The real question was whether the phrase was the hook in either song and was novel in either song."
Nathan Gisclair, a partner in New Orleans' Montgomery Barnett Brown Read Hammond & Mintz who represents D.J. Jubilee, says the opinion is disappointing -- it gives little guidance on how plaintiffs should litigate cases such as this one in the future.
In its opinion, the 5th Circuit noted that D.J. Jubilee contended "that the district court committed reversible error by excluding, as hearsay, several newspaper articles that purported to find strong similarities between Juvenile's and Jubilee's songs."
