Louisiana inventor Steve Winn is suing Mystikal
for copyright infringement for over $1 million dollars. According to MTV, Mystikal
is being sued by Steve Winn, the inventor of Cajun in Your Pocket, which is
a key battery operated key chain that says six Cajun phrases when pressed. According
to the lawsuit, Mystikal used the phrases on his hit song "Shake Ya Ass"
without proper permission. The phrases, "You gotta suck da head on dem
der crawfish, " "I love you like a pig loves corn,” "Laissez
les bon temps rouler” (“Let the good times roll”), and "We gon’ pass good
time, yeah, cher," will land the rapper in court defending himself in September.
"It really stands out in the song,"
Winn’s lawyer Greg Eveline told MTV. "We’re not asking for the world. We
just want our share. Mystikal is from [Louisiana], so it’s obvious where [the
phrases] came from."
Mystikal’s lawyer Roy Maughan Jr. refutes the
claims and dismisses the lawsuit, claiming the phrases are common in the Cajun
language and that Winn cannot copyright them. Maughan said that they will dispute
the claim entirely. "On their own Web site, it claims those are ‘authentic
Cajun expressions,’" Maughan told MTV. "Well if that’s the case, you
didn’t make them up! The expressions haven’t been modified in such a way that
gives them uniqueness or protection."
Cajun In Your Pocket has gone after another musician,
Ani Difranco. Her case was different because she used the actual recordings
contained in the Cajun In Your Pocket key chain in her song "Angel Food."
That recording cost her around $20,000 when the lawsuit was settled.