Dame Dash has finally been divested of his 1/3 share of Roc-A-Fella Records after a long-planned auction, and there’s a surprising new owner: the state of New York.
Dame’s share was sold as part of a judgment in a legal proceeding against him. At the auction on Thursday (November 14), the New York Postreported that the winning bid $1 million bid was placed by an anonymous state government employee. A portion of that million will reportedly go to New York City, to help collect Dash’s unpaid child support.
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The reason the state bought the share of the company was, the article explains, so that they can in turn sell it, and put the money towards Dash’s tax debt of $8.7 million.
Attorney Chris Brown, who represents two of Dash’s alleged creditors, said, “The auction is over but the work is not complete. Mr. Dash’s legacy is now New York state property. I will work with New York state and New York City as the next phase of ownership of the shares.”
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The potential value of Roc-A-Fella records was a contentious point leading up to the auction.
In September, Dame accused JAY-Z of attempting to disrupt the auction.
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The City of New York requested a stay in the auction following comments made by Hov about the copyright ownership regarding his seminal debut album Reasonable Doubt.
Jay claimed that the copyright to the album reverts back to him in 2031, but the City alleged that was false — and deliberately damaging to the auction process.
The City has claimed that the album’s copyright will continue to be held by Roc-A-Fella until 2098 and have accused the label of not providing proof of royalties that the album generates.
Dame also hit out at his former business partner on Instagram, writing: “The State of NY has stepped in and filed the following to the courts…Jay-Z’s statements to the press have poisoned the environment for the auction. He has claimed that he has a termination right under the Copyright Act and that the rights to Reasonable Doubt will revert to him in six years.
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“In fact, he has no such termination right and RAF is entitled to the renewal term, which is now 67 years meaning it will own the copyright rights until the year 2098. In other words, the highest possible auction price could be more than ten times higher than is likely now, given Jay-Z’s and [Roc-A-Fella’s] actions. [Roc-A-Fella] is complicit by its inaction in pushing back against such false statements.”
The auction was ordered by the court to pay Dash’s debt to Webber after losing a copyright infringement lawsuit over the movie Dear Frank.
