Birdman Files A 50 Million Lawsuit Against Jay Z S Tidal For What
Birdman’s Cash Money Records is suing Jay Z’s music streaming company, Tidal, for streaming songs from Lil Wayne’s Free Weezy album. The grand total that Birdman seeks in the lawsuit? A cool $50 MILLION. $20 million of that amount is for compensatory damages and $30 million is for punitive damages. Interestingly enough, that amount is roughly the same amount that Wayne is suing Birdman for in a separate lawsuit. The Cash Money lawsuit includes a claim by the label that they hold the exclusive rights to all of Weezy’s music, meaning that Tidal’s streaming of the album is illegal. According to the lawsuit, Cash Money claims that Tidal’s streaming of Weezy’s album is “a desperate and illegal attempt to save their struggling streaming service.” Tidal though, bites back in the lawsuit, claiming that Wayne’s music is not exclusive to Birdman’s label. In the lawsuit, Tidal claims that Weezy gave them the right to stream his music, and in exchange, Tidal gave Wayne part ownership in the company. Cash Money however, quotes portions of Wayne’s contract with the label, which specifically state that Weezy does not have the power to license his music to any other entity. To add fuel to the fire, Cash Money says in the lawsuit that Wayne’s Free Weezy album received “tepid reviews” and could hurt Cash Money’s attempt to exploit Weezy’s music. This saga between Birdman and Wayne has turned almost soap-opera like. Who knows what the next chapter in this bitter feud will bring? Nobody knows. But whatever happens, we’ll keep you updated.