Fat Joe now suing his insurance company
It’s the tale of two disappointed rappers and in the middle is an insurance company that wants no part of this mess. In the music industry, arrangements are normally made beforehand when one artist builds upon the work of another. But in this case, it’s like we learned in first grade: you can’t cheat off of someone’s paper (or song sheet)!
Rapper Fat Joe (Joseph Cartagena) is on the receiving end of a lawsuit from fellow rapper Fly Havana (Eric Elliott) for taking one of Fly’s recordings and building upon it for his 2016 Remy Ma collaboration ‘All The Way Up’. Fat Joe isn’t denying it, as both songs share the same name. He’d mentioned Fly’s original track in a past interview and even paid him a $5,000 fee after its release. Fat Joe also promised additional future royalties according to legal filings.
But those royalties never materialized and Fly Havana filed suit this past March against Fat Joe. Fly is asking to be formally listed as co-creator of Joe’s song so he can get co-writing credit and the formal royalty share that follows. Fat Joe, in turn, turned the suit over to his insurance carrier, Homeland Insurance Company of New York, and submitted a request the carrier defend the lawsuit.
Homeland declined, saying that a copyright action of this sort isn’t covered by the insurance policy. The carrier is also questioning the timing of Fat Joe’s policy – it became effective in January, just two months before Fly filed suit. Homeland accuses Fat Joe of having withheld important information when purchasing the policy: the ongoing dispute that would likely result in a claim.
We know all of this because Fat Joe has now filed suit against Homeland in federal court in New York for wrongfully denying coverage. Homeland has not responded to the lawsuit.
LMA Newsletter of 7-15-19
