Hip-hop mega mogul Jay-Z has filed a lawsuit against a small Australian retailer over the use of his name and lyrics in its products.
“The Little Homie” is an online retailer selling “hip-hop inspired” clothing and books. In 2017, the company raised $8,000 on Kickstarter to create a book titled “AB to Jay-Z.” The picture book uses lyrics from well-known artists—including Jigga—to teach the alphabet.
The rapper claims the firm has breached his intellectual property, by including it the children’s book and a coloring book by the same name.
The books draw on lyrics from his hit song ”99 Problems” and even features some lyrics in an advertisement for the book saying, “If you’re having alphabet problems I feel bad for you son, I got 99 problems but my ABC’s ain’t one!”
According to BBC, the song lyrics are also referenced on the back cover of the book, which teaches letters by referring to the names of other famous rappers, including Snoop Dogg and Biggie Smalls.
An Australian newspaper called The Age reported that the billionaire businessman had his lawyers request the retailer to stop selling the products in 2018, but the situation remained unresolved.
Instead, they claim the business continued to “deliberately and knowingly” use his likeness in a “flagrant, glaring” way.
