Late singer Prince’s estate is suing rapper Jay-Z for illegally streaming Prince’s music.
Prince’s record labels NPG Records Inc. and NPG Music are filing a federal lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and its streaming service Tidal, reports aceshowbiz.com.
According to the suit filed on Tuesday, Roc Nation has overstepped an agreement Prince signed with Tidal before his death. The agreement allowed Tidal to stream and sell “the next newly recorded studio LP “HITNRUN (Phase One)” by the recording artist known as Prince.”
Tidal owned exclusive rights to the material for 90 days since the agreement were signed on August 1 last year.
The suit states that Roc Nation, through Tidal, beginning from June 7, 2016, is “exploiting many copyrighted Prince works in addition to the works that comprise the ‘HitNRun: Phase 1’ album.”
Things got worse when Jay-Z’s company filed documents in Carver County District Court in November, asserting it had “both oral and written” agreements to exclusively stream Prince’s entire catalogue of music on Tidal, but it did not provide any documents to support that claim, according to the complaint.
Roc Nation continues “to reproduce, distribute and publicly perform” Prince’s music.
Prince’s record labels demand that Roc Nation, Tidal, stop streaming and selling the late singer’s music other than “HITNRUN (Phase One)”. They are seeking unspecified damages.
IANS
