#Damon Dash Files Lawsuit Against JAY-Z Over Reasonable Doubt Streaming Rights

Last month, Roc-A-Fella Records sued the label’s co-founder Damon Dash for attempting to auction JAY-Z’s 1996 debut Reasonable Doubt as an NFT. The label alleged that Dash could not legally oversee this sale as the rights to the record belong to the label. Now, Dash has filed a lawsuit against JAY-Z in New York Supreme Court, The Hollywood Reporter points out. According to documents viewed by THR, the complaint accuses JAY-Z of wrongfully claiming streaming rights to Reasonable Doubt for himself.

The suit reportedly states that JAY-Z transferred streaming rights to Reasonable Doubt (without authorization from Roc-A-Fella) to S. Carter Enterprises LLC. According to THR, Dash is suing over unjust enrichment, breach of fiduciary duty, replevin, and conversion, and seeking a minimum of $1 million in damages.

Dash’s scheduled NFT auction was canceled before he was able to sell Reasonable Doubt in the digital format last month, however Roc-A-Fella’s June lawsuit claimed that Dash was “frantically scouting for another venue to make the sale.” Dash later claimed that he was never attempting to sell JAY-Z’s album, but his share of Roc-A-Fella.

Legal tensions within the Roc-A-Fella realm have been surfacing in the past few years. Earlier this summer, JAY-Z filed a lawsuit against hip-hop photographer Jonathan Mannion, who shot the cover of Reasonable Doubt. JAY-Z accused Mannion of “exploiting” his name and image “without [his] consent.” In 2016, JAY-Z and Dash (along with Kareem “Biggs” Burke, Roc-A-Fella, UMG, and Island Def Jam) were sued by clothing designer Dwayne Walker. Walker claimed he created the Roc-A-Fella logo and was owed royalties for its use. He sued for $7 million over breach of contract and copyright infringement.

When reached for comment, an attorney for Roc-A-Fella and JAY-Z told Pitchfork: “This is nothing more than a frivolous stunt.” Pitchfork has reached out to representatives for Damon Dash for further information.