Queens rapper 50 Cent won a major victory in court yesterday (September 22nd), over a copyright infringement claim regarding his hit film and movie Before I Self Destruct.
50 was hit with a lawsuit filed by author Shadrach Winstead in November of 2009, who claimed that the rapper stole the concept for his album and movie from his 2008 book, "The Preacher Son – But The Streets Turned Me Into a Gangster."
50 hired entertainment firm Reed Smith to defend himself against the lawsuit, which was filed in United States District Court of New Jersey.
Yesterday, a federal court in Newark, New Jersey dismissed the copyright infringement case against 50 Cent and his G-Unit record label.
Reps for Reed Smith told AllHipHop that they won the case for 50, based on the absence of substantial similarity between the themes and plot of the book and movie.
The judge ruled that aside from the fact that the main character grew up on the streets of Newark and led a life of crime, there was little else in common between 50 Cent's movie and Shadrach Winstead's book.
"With respect to the various specific phrases and lines which Winstead alleged that our client took from the book, we demonstrated that many were misquoted, manipulated or not in the movie at all and that, in any event, they were non-copyrightable short phrases or unpredictable expressions used in the 'street' such as 'get the dope, cut the dope,' a rep for Reed Smith and 50 Cent told AllHipHop.com.
"Lastly, we argued that the pendent State law claims Winstead asserted were preempted by the Copyright Act," the rep explained. "Judge Chesler agreed on all points and dismissed the complaint in its entirety."
The case was handled by Reed Smith attorneys Peter Raymond, Kerren Zinner and Aditya Nagarajan in New York, with able assistance from Dan Mateo and Amy McVeigh in New Jersey.
A copy of the decision is listed below:
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