Another day another lawsuit for rap mogul Jay-Z whose being sued by a former heavyweight. Mitchell Rose, former heavyweight boxer, filed a lawsuit in Brooklyn this past week seeking to sue Mr. Carter for copyright infringement. Rose is seeking $88 million in damages. Mr. Rose contends that Jay-Z stole his “whispering tone” rap style and began to use this style in futurerap songs.

Rose recounts how it all started, “I saw Jay-Z as we were leaving the arena after the fight, gave him my tape, and asked him to listen to it”, explained Rose, who also wrote a book called Mike Tyson Tried To Kill My Daddy. “He took the demo with him and shortly after that he began using the whispering (which he now frequents) in his songs. I had previously trained some of my artists to use that style, but it quickly became obsolete after Jay-Z got a hold of it. He used the whispering to enhance his music and financially benefit from it. Jay-Z disregarded the fact that it was my demo where he got the style from as he went on to use it for his own personal gains, which is wrong”.. (Source)

The demo tape was allegedly given to Jay-Z back in 2001 after a William-Joffy – Felix Trinidad fight. Interesting. This sounds like a clear case of extortion. Let’s keep our ears open to see how this all pans out.

In 2007, the Forbes list rated Jay-Z as the richest hip-hop celebrity. With his net worth, I’m sure Jay-Z can withstand another lawsuit. But when it comes to copyright infringement, this lawsuit may take some time.

Copyright infringement is illegal and is protected by the federal government. There are several type of works that can be copyrighted: literary works, visual arts, performing arts, sound recordings, serials and periodicals,and informacion en espanol (information in spanish). In this particular case, Rose’s infringement lawsuit would be classified under sound recording. Sound recordings are “works that result from the fixation of a series of musical, spoken, or other sounds, but not including the sounds accompanying a motion picture or other audiovisual work.” In sound recordings, the “whispering tone” falls in the category of “other sound”. For legal protection, Rose must have registered his taped demo with the U.S. Copyrights office prior to 2001. For more information on copyrights and the law, go to http://www.copyright.gov/ .