Judge dismisses copyright suit against 50 Cent

A US district judge has dismissed a copyright infringement suit brought against rapper Curtis Jackson, also known as 50 Cent.

In October last year WIPR  reported that US writer Larry Johnson had named 50 Cent and US TV network Starz in a suit centring on a two-part manuscript called “Tribulations of a Ghetto Kid”.

Johnson claimed that TV show “Power”, which aired on US network Starz, infringed the manuscript.

50 Cent acted as one of the executive producers on the crime drama, which centres on James St Patrick, nicknamed “Ghost”, who owns a nightclub in New York City.

St Patrick is also involved in the illegal drugs network and the show chronicles the character balancing his two lives.

“ Tribulations of a Ghetto Kid” was published by Against All Oddz Publications in 2014.

According to the claim, Johnson had communicated with fellow writer, Nikki Turner, about his work in 2005, “in the hopes of getting the protected work published”.

Turner began working with 50 Cent to develop literary projects based on the “brutal highs” and “short lives” of people conducting illegal activities, said the suit.

Turner then became Johnson’s agent but when the business relationship ended, Turner still possessed a copy of the manuscript and was employed by 50 Cent’s company, according to the claim.

In July, Starz filed a motion for judgment on the pleadings.

Then, on September 18, District Judge Manuel Real granted the motion, finding that Johnson had not met the pleading burden of showing “more than a bare possibility that defendants had access to ‘Tribulations’”.

“Plaintiffs’ bare allegations that defendant Turner gave defendant Jackson a copy of ‘Tribulations’ who then shared the work with co-producers ten years later are merely speculative,” said Real.

The judge also found that there were no similarities between the characters and plots of the stories that were protectable under copyright law.

“While both works share some general similarities such as a drug dealer from the inner city transitioning into legitimate business, they tell materially different stories,” said Real.

He added that the characters “also share no significant similarities under copyright law”.

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