After having a smash success with his recent album “We Invented the Remix”, P.Diddy also known as Sean Combs is being sued for royalties by Universal-MCA Music Publishing, R& B singer Kelly Price, rapper Sauce Money and Jeremy Graham. The four million dollar lawsuit claims that the writer’s, who penned six songs on 1997’s “No Way Out”, have not received any royalties from the album because of an unfair and “fraudulent” cap put on the amount of money the actual songwriters could receive. Sauce Money recently spoke to Wendy Williams on New York’s WBLS, her afternoon radio show, explaining he actually received money from the albums sales, but Universal Publishing insisted on pursuing the lawsuit. If Universal were awarded any money for this lawsuit he would also be able to get paid. Most of the royalties were paid for the clearance of the samples used on the album.
For example, the smash hit “I’ll Be Missing You”, in dedication to late rapper Notorious BIG, P. Diddy sampled the police track “Every Breath You Take” (as well as Sting singing on the track). Although “No Way Out” was a big seller throughout 1997, the lawsuit states the plaintiffs have yet to receive any money for their work and was not explained nor signed anything that stated they would not receive anything. In a statement issued to the media, a Bad Boy spokesperson states that the writer’s agreed on the contracts that they were offered.
