Jay Z seems to be taking on an Australian book and online retail company who apparently is using his likeness and his lyrics in a children’s book that they are selling.
The book is called AB to Jay Z and Jay Z, and it is said that hip hop shop The Little Homie infringed on his trademarks and engaged in deceptive and misleading conduct through the sales of their children’s book that used him and his material as its medium.
Getting kids to learn via hip hop is indeed a very creative and expressive way of learning but not to the point of infringing somebody else’s trademarks and copyrights and you have to ask for permission.
So far it seems like Jay Z is the only artist that they have used, although they have another book titled 1 2 3 with the Notorious B.I.G. Now, it is yet unknown whether Biggie’s people are aware of the book yet, but with the issue regarding Jay Z we might be getting a response from his people soon, if ever.
Jay Z also stated that the company has not just used his likeness but also used the words in his hit single 99 Problems. It is even shown at the back of the book ‘If you have an alphabet problem, I feel bad for you son. I got 99 problems but my ABC’s ain’t one’.
The rap mogul’s legal team released a statement saying that Jay Z requested the company to discontinue selling their product since March of 2018 despite the legal correspondence between the two parties involved, The Little Homie still insisted on the availability of the book to the public.
That is over a year since Jay Z and his legal team had requested to take the book off the shelves and circulation and have made bank with it, with the rapper not even asking money from them so it is kind of disrespectful for the company to continue with the sales using his likeness and copyrighted content.
Another odd thing about this whole situation is how slow American news outlets have gotten to this issue despite the fact that foreign outlets have already reported about the situation.
Jay Z’s hands are tied now given the leniency that his team has provided to The Little Homie and has filed a lawsuit in the Australian Federal Court. It might be a stretch going after a retail company like this from another continent, but the rap mogul does have some credence on his claims and it will be very interesting how the story develops.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YUealdbXb-M