If you needed proof that holiday cash is hard to come by, then check out the mess that a relatively unknown rapper is trying to get 50 Cent into. The Associated Press is reporting that Atlanta based MC, Tyrone “Caliber” Simmons, is suing Fiddy’s camp for copyright infringement. The case is based around the song “I Get Money” – which peaked at No. 4 on the Billboard charts nearly three years ago – and finds Simmons seeking undisclosed damages because 50 stole his beat.
“The misappropriation of copyright-protected material is an endemic problem in the music business, and particularly in the genre of hip-hop,” said Simmons’ attorney, Louis D. Tambaro, “This is one such case.” Tambaro says Simmons bought the exclusive license to the Apex-produced track and that his client was “unceremoniously cut out of the loop when the defendants realized they had a huge hit on their hands.” (via The Boombox)
All of this is good and well, and no one should steal from one another, but it seems like artists are suing each other just to get their names in headlines lately. Just yesterday, we reported that the Black Eyed Peas have faced multiple copyright lawsuits over a few of their hit songs, and while we never really find out if anyone gets paid after it’s all over, the plaintiffs do usually see a spike in views for their grainy YouTube video. Unfortunately for Tyrone Simmons, a Google search of both his rap and real-life names yields pretty much nothing. In fact, it seems like Hi-Caliber – a “Republican rapper” who rhymes about Barack Obama and Nancy Pelosi seems to be more popular than Caliber himself.
So here’s a tip kids: If you’re going to sue a big name musician for copyright infringement, make sure that your MyFaceTwitterBooks are all up to date, and that you’ve got some YouTube videos first. Hell, you should even have a KickStarter account so that you collect donations towards your new album or something. Check out the beat that Fiddy “stole” below.
