Mystikal Sued Over Cajun Sayings

Mystikal

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 […]

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.