The legal teams for Jay-Z and Damon Dash, former business partners, are looking to resolve an ongoing legal dispute from last summer when Hov sued Dash for trying to auction off a Reasonable Doubt NFT, according to iHeart.
Jay-Z’s legal team, which represents Roc-A-Fella Records, said that lawyers on both sides are in discussions to settle out of court. Hov’s attorney, Alex Spiro, said in a letter “the parties are also in the process of meeting and conferring to determine whether they can reach a settlement agreement that would resolve this case. To this end, the parties respectfully request that the Court order that the parties file a subsequent Joint Status Letter on or before April 1, 2022.”
The lawsuit alleges that Dash planned to put an NFT on the market to sell it through an online auction, but Jay-Z’s attorney argues that Roc-A-Fella Records is the sole owner of the album and its rights and cannot sell the album as an NFT or any other form, according to iHeart.
But, Dash does own a third of the rights and claims that he only planned to sell his share of the ownership in the 1996 album.
However, Dash is disputing all reports that the two sides are close to a settlement and is letting it be known.
In an Instagram post, Dash wrote, “Please don’t believe this hype we are nowhere near a settlement… They accused me of doing something I did not do and now they have to prove it…and I can sell my share anytime I want #askthejudge and #jayz and @biggsburke if you wanna settle this holla at me…we use to hustle together…court is corny…let’s talk like men for the culture… I dare y’all to respond #doitfortheculture.”
If no settlement is reached, Spiro said Jay-Z will file a separate motion to ban Dash permanently from selling any portion of the album, according to Complex.
Spiro also claimed that Dash admitted during litigation that he knew that he did not have the right to sell any part of Reasonable Doubt.
In an interview with Shannon Sharpe on his podcast Club Shay Shay, Dash said, “He sued me for something he said that I did that I didn’t, and then I just had to sue him because he was redirecting funds for Reasonable Doubt,” Dash said. “I didn’t realize it. I would never sue somebody I used to hustle with—I’m not into suing anybody. I was disappointed. I think it’s embarrassing.”