Late singer Prince’s estate has sued rapper Jay-Z for illegally streaming Prince’s music.
Prince’s record labels NPG Records Inc. and NPG Music has filed a federal lawsuit alleging copyright infringement against Jay-Z’s Roc Nation and its streaming service Tidal, reports aceshowbiz.com.
According to the suit filed, Roc Nation has overstepped an agreement Prince signed with Tidal before his death. The agreement allowed Tidal to stream and sell “the next newly recorded studio LP HITNRUN (Phase One) by the recording artist known as Prince.”
Tidal owned exclusive rights to the material for 90 days since the agreement was signed on August 1 last year.
The suit stated that Roc Nation, through Tidal, beginning from June 7, 2016, is “exploiting many copyrighted Prince works in addition to the works that comprise the HitNRun: Phase 1 album.”
Things got worse when Jay-Z’s company filed documents in Carver County District Court in November, asserting it had “both oral and written” agreements to exclusively stream Prince’s entire catalogue of music on Tidal, but it did not provide any documents to support that claim, according to the complaint.
Roc Nation continued “to reproduce, distribute and publicly perform” Prince’s music.
Prince’s record labels demanded that Roc Nation, Tidal, stop streaming and selling the late singer’s music other than HITNRUN (Phase One). They have sought unspecified damages.