Michael Jackson, former collaborator turned rival R.
Kelly and a dozen other artists have filed suit against Jigga‘s 40/40 Club
for “unauthorized
public performance of musical compositions.” In other words, the club was not
paying royalties to the artists for playing their music.
The suit was filed yesterday in Manhattan federal court.
According to an article which appeared in the New York Post,
Jay Z isn’t
named in the suit.
There are several songs that received play at the club,
without proper compensation, including Michael Jackson‘s Billy Jean,
and Gold Digger by Kanye West. A BMI researcher discovered
the violations after two random visits to the club in March of 2006.
According to Jerry Bailey, a spokesman for BMI
, “the
company holds the licensing rights”
to over six million songs, nearly half the songs played in the U.S. The
organization has not been able to license Jay‘s 40/40 Club.
Lawyers for the 40/40 Club have not commented on the
suit.
According to the article, this is not the first time the
club has encountered financial issues. Another law suit filed by former
waitress Celeste Williams alleges that she and many other employees were
not paid the minimum wage required by federal law.
Club management maintains that Williams only worked
at the club for four days.