The City of New York has become involved in Jay-Z's ongoing dispute with his erstwhile business partner Damon Dash.
A lawyer for the Department of Social Services in New York City has accused Jay-Z of "poisoning" Dash's auction of the copyright to his classic debut album "Reasonable Doubt." Jay-Z could potentially be called to depose in Diddy's sex trafficking lawsuit, Stereogum reported.
Dash read verbatim documents filed by the city regarding the rapper in a video posted to X, or formerly Twitter, on Friday.
Jay-Z, whose actual name is Shawn Carter, was accused by the city's lawyer of attempting to inflate the final value of the auction by misrepresenting the value of Dash's third of Roc-A-Fella Records, which includes the Reasonable Doubt copyright, according to TMZ.
The city will benefit from the auction, as Dash owes a significant amount in outstanding taxes and child support debt.
Jay-Z had previously asserted through his legal team that Dash's ownership of the album would be returned to him in 2031.
Nevertheless, New York City has refuted that date in its filing, asserting that Dash's copyright extends to 2098 in accordance with his recording contract with Roc-A-Fella Records, which he co-founded in 1994.
"The auction should be conducted in a manner that will bring the highest price for the benefit of affected judgment creditors," the filing was authored by attorney Gerald E. Singleton.
He further stated that Jay-Z's contract with Roc-A-Fella delineates his album Reasonable Doubt as "work made for hire," which would purportedly permit the label — and, as a result, the individual to whom Dash sells his stake — to retain the copyright until 2098.
The filing asserts that the ultimate bid for the auction could be as much as ten times the amount of the copyright were anticipated to last for nearly the next century rather than just seven years.
The city's filing also indicates that the statements regarding the Reasonable Doubt copyright could potentially impede its ability to secure the maximum possible bid.
According to TMZ, the Department of Social Services would benefit from a successful auction, as Dash is currently in debt for $193,000 in child support.
Additionally, it has been reported that he is in debt for several million dollars in outstanding taxes.
The auction, which was initially scheduled for August 29, was to commence with opening bids at $1.2 million. All bidders were required to submit a $240,000 deposit.
The city's filing was subsequently disputed by Roc-A-Fella Records in a letter that was obtained by the Daily Mail on Monday.
Alex Spiro, Jay-Z's counsel, initiated the conversation by asserting that there was "no merit to NYC’s accusations and requests."
He further stated that the city was mistaken in attributing the statements regarding the copyright's term to his client, as Jay-Z had only submitted a notice of termination to the copyright office with the intention of regaining the copyright.
Spiro maintained that the copyright to Reasonable Doubt is not of concern to New York City, and that potential bidders were entitled to be informed that the copyright they were bidding on could revert to Jay-Z in 2031.
He also referred to the termination notice as "woefully unripe" and urged a judge to deny the city's request for an advisory opinion on the termination notice.
Dash issued a statement in which he defended the auction of his Roc-A-Fella interests.
"Since 2021, Jay has been trying to block the lawful sale of my 1/3rd interest. He even had bylaw provisions adopted to prevent sales to third parties, which the court ultimately invalidated. Now, in 2024, his team is spreading falsehoods to deter legitimate bidders from spending millions at auction, hoping to snatch it up on the cheap," Dash stated.
