Jan 20, 2006 10:15 pm US/Eastern
'50 Cent' Charged With Stealing Music
Lawsuit Claims Rapper Changed 1 Word Of Song
Appeared on 2 Live Crew Album
Dave Game, CBS4news.com
MIAMI (CBS4/AP) ―
More bad blood between rappers, but this time, the fight will be in a courtroom. An attorney in Miami is calling Rapper 50 Cent a music thief, claiming stole the opening line for his 2003 hit "In Da Club" from a song by former 2 Live Crew frontman Luther Campbell.
Richard C. Wolfe filed the copyright infringement lawsuit against Curtis James Jackson, aka 50 Cent, in Miami federal court last week on behalf of Lil' Joe Wein Music.
50 Cent only changed one word from the opening line of Campbell's song from "It's Your Birthday," Wolfe said -- after repeating the word "go" several times, "Sheila" becomes "shorty" in the line, "Go shorty, it's your birthday."
Campbell's song appeared on his 1994 solo album "Still a Freak for Life."
"It's the melody, it's the pace, the style -- everything about that one line is the same," Wolfe said. "We're entitled to a portion of the profits."
50 Cent's publicist, Dennis Dennehy, said he had no comment on the lawsuit. A message left Friday for Campbell was not immediately returned.
Lil' Joe Wein Music holds the copyright to "It's Your Birthday" and other songs Campbell produced with his rap group 2 Live Crew and as a solo artist. Lil' Joe Wein Music is owned by Joseph Weinberger, an attorney who formerly represented Campbell.
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