BIRDMAN - RAPPER BIRDMAN SUED OVER COPYRIGHT

RAPPER BIRDMAN SUED OVER COPYRIGHT

Rapper BIRDMAN and his record label are to be sued over claims they have sampled other artists' music without paying the appropriate licensing fees. The lawsuit, which was filed 29 October (08) in U.S. District Court in New Orleans, claims Birdman owes a unspecified amount of money for the use of copyrighted songs, citing breach of contract and copyright infringement. The lawsuit claims music on albums by Birdman - real name Bryan Williams - Lil' Wayne and the Big Tymers contain copyrighted material that Cash Money Records used without licensing agreements and without paying royalties. However, none of the songs in violation were named in the suit. In the legal papers, it states Birdman and his brother and co-founder Ronald Williams made a single payment of $400,000 (GBP200,000), but have failed to provide the companies with "appropriate accounting" to show how much more money they owed. A number of music publishing companies - including WB Music Corp., Warner-Tamerlane Publishing Corp., Cotillion Music Inc. and Noontime Tunes - attempted to serve the label with a copy of the lawsuit at their offices in New Orleans, Louisiana, on 3 December (08), but Cash Money no longer operated at the location. Birdman's publicist, Kia Selby, says she hasn't seen the lawsuit.