50 Cent Sued for Copyright Infringement Over "I Get Money"

According to nydailynews.com, 50 Cent AKA Curtis Jackson is being sued for copyright infringement over his 2007 hit single titled I Get Money. Caliber is an Atlanta Rap artist that claims to have purchased the exclusive rights to the instrumental before 50 Cent was ever placed on the track. According to the lawsuit filed, this means that the Atlanta Rap artist is due a portion of the funds that were generated from the hit record. The basis of the lawsuit is that 50 Cent wrongfully used a track that did not belong to him and this means that the profit should be split as a result. However, courts have typically been very hesitant to awarded damaged where the infringement is not clear cut. An example of this would be taking portions of the song and inserting lyrics from the Atlanta Rap artist in order to enhance the track. However, that is not the case with the I Get Money track, all of the lyrics were written by 50 Cent on a beat that was presented to him for release. In fact, this is a common problem in the music industry, producers will sell beats to artists and then resell them to someone that is willing to pay more in the future. It is very likely that the producer of the track simply decided to resell the track to 50 Cent because of the fact that he was able to pay more for the track.

Additionally, the I Get Money was so profitable because of the fact that 50 was able to lend his voice to the track. Without the lyrics recorded by 50 Cent on the track, it is very likely that the song would have never been a hit at all. However, 50 Cent has a proven track record of success that enabled this song to become the hit that resulted in millions of albums sold. If you add this with the heavy play that the track received on the radio, this is a track that is now worth millions of dollars in revenue. This leaves the court with the question as to who actually owns the beat and if 50 Cent is responsible to share a portion of the funds generated from this track. Kanye West is another artist that was recently sued for copyright infringement, it is very likely that this is simply an attempt to make a quick dollar off of the success of 50 Cent.