Credit:Chelsea-Lauren/WireImage
According to BillBoard, Jay Z has filled a motion in court last week to have a lawsuit filled by Ex recording engineer Chauncey Mahan thrown out. Mahan alleges that he should be co owner of 45 Jay Z songs including Big Pimpin and Things That U Do which he says he helped create. In a 84 page complaint, Chauncey Mahan makes the case that he was just as responsible for creating those hits as much as Jay Z. In the complaint Mahan states,
(He) “was in charge of setting up or scheduling the recording sessions and studio time, tracking the prototype beat of the so-called ‘producer,’ pre-mixing the beat, sample editing, choosing the recording methodology and setting up the microphones, vocal recording, vocal coaching, vocal compositing, multi-track mixing, song arranging, pitch shifting, additional editing, and pre-mastering a final version through use of a digital audio workstation such as Pro Tools.”
JayZ’s legal team responded with,
“After 14 years of silence, Petitioner’s claims (and his attempt to use the federal courts as part of his shakedown scheme) are outrageous and wholly without merit,” a memorandum by the defense reads in part. “More significantly, for purposes of this Motion, the claims are plainly barred by the three-year statute of limitations contained in the Copyright Act, and have been for more than a decade.”
So in other words, Mr Carter says Mahan is too late. Jay Z and his legal team argued the statute of limitations have passed and that Mahan had been silent until only recently regarding his joint author claims. They also reiterated past accusations that Mahan “attempted to allegedly extort money from the Brooklyn rapper in exchange for the return of computer sound files.” While this case is related, it is a separate case all together and only an attempt to show Mahan’s true nature as a schemer.
Roc-a-Fella Records has distanced themselves from the situation claiming that at the time Jay Z had sold his interest in the recordings to Universal Records excluding the company from litigation.
