The Game has filed a lawsuit against Koch and Fast Life Records over material the platinum-plus rapper recorded before he landed a deal with Dr. Dre’s Aftermath/Interscope imprint.
The lawsuit alleges that Koch Entertainment Distribution, Koch Entertainment and Fast Life Records are liable for at least 81 separate counts of copyright infringement as a result of marketing and distributing at least five albums from the Game.
The labels released Untold Story, Untold Story Vol. 2, Untold Story Vol. 2 Chopped & Screwed, G.A.M.E. and other recordings the rapper recorded before he inked a major label deal and released his debut album, The Documentary.
The lawsuit also claims that legal representatives for The Game were notified that the sale of the albums violated Game’s rights, but the labels refused to halt the distribution and sale of the recordings.
“It is unfortunate that Koch ignored our request to halt distribution of Game’s early demos,” Game’s manager Jimmy Rosemond told AllHipHop.com. “They are illegal masters that were obtained without the consent of the Game. We hope this will make any and all musical pirates more conscious of artist, like the Game and their copyrights
and intellectual property. Koch just released another illegal Game album [G.A.M.E.]. This is a mere attempt to confuse Game’s fans as he is preparing to release his sophomore album in June with Dr. Dre.”
The rapper is seeking injunctive relief, statutory or actual damages, punitive damages, costs and attorney’s fees.
Game is also seeking sales figures for the albums sold and an injunction against Koch and Fast Life Records to prevent any further distribution of his recordings.
A source at Koch Entertainment said they had every legal right to release the albums.
“Our rights to these recordings are rock solid and legal, which Game’s management is well aware of,” the source told AllHipHop.com. “Game’s current management has never made a request to us to stop selling these records and they have no legal ground to do so anyway. Intimidation certainly will not work with us.”
Game’s official release is his highly anticipated sophomore debut titled The Doctors Advocate, which is slated to hit stores on 06/06/06 (June 6).