Although he is riding high in his “tight whip”, Master P also known as Percy Miller has lost his battle in court this week.
Eighty-year old Geneva Burger of Pomona, California sued Master P and his company Bout IT Inc. for using her voice without permission on the 1998 intro to the song “Sky’s the Limit on Mr. Magic’s album. Geneva Burger was recorded in a 1997 conversation with a friend of her grandson’s asking, “When people get hooked on pot, can they get sick if they don’t get it?” Burger said she suffered humiliation, embarrassment and anxiety over the sound of hearing her voice on the “crude gangsta rap CD”.
Judge R. Bruce Minto of Superior Court ordered Master P to pay $105,000 in punitive damages to be paid to the grandmother. The breakdown in the payment amount was: & $75,000 to be paid from Snoop Dogg also known as Calvin Broadus, $300,000 from Priority Record Company and $35,000 in compensatory damages from Master P. Let this be a warning to all you beatmakers and rappers, get permission before you use someone else’s voice cause it can come back on ya!
