jaggerz

 

Strangely, rapper The Game’s name has been brought up in a copyright infringement lawsuit between Sony/ATV and a 1970’s/1980’s rock group. 

 

Donnie Iris and two others associated with the rock group, The Jaggerz, have filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court of Pittsburgh.  The lawsuit claims that their song “Memoirs of a Traveler” was sampled in the song “Letter to the King”, which was included on The Game’s 2008 album LAX.  Iris, his co-writer Eugene “Benny” Faiella, and the estate of their former manager Joseph V. Rock are claiming that there are a substantial amount of unpaid royalties not accounted for.  Thus, they are suing Sony/ATV.

 

But why if The Game is signed to a different label?

 

The Game is signed to Geffen/Universal. However, the label says that the royalties from the song were paid to EMI Publishing Company.  Unfortunately, the lawsuit states that EMI never passed the money on to the plaintiffs. Plus, Sony bought out EMI in June 2012. This is why Sony is being sued.

 

The plaintiffs also claim that they have tried several times to settle this issue out of court. But, since January 2013, they believe Sony hasn’t made any real effort to pay them, even after being sent several correspondences throughout the year.

 

The guys are simply tired of waiting. Therefore, a lawsuit was filed last Wednesday.  The amount the songwriters are suing for are unknown.

 

 

Source: AP