Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James, rappers Drake and Future, are reportedly being sued over theft of intellectual property rights.
According to Carl Campanile and Priscilla DeGregory of the New York Post the trio were dragged to court by former National Basketball Players Association executive director Billy Hunter who is seeking $10 million.
The Kenya Times understands Hunter is also seeking a portion of the profits from the LeBron, Drake and Future documentary Black Ice, which was released in 2014.
According to CBSSports, Hunter claims that he held the exclusive intellectual property rights to produce the documentary.
It should be noted that Black Ice was about the Colored Hockey League, which was in existence from 1895 until the 1925.
“While the defendants LeBron James, Drake and Maverick Carter [LeBron’s business partner] are internationally known and renowned in their respective fields of basketball and music, it does not afford them the right to steal another’s intellectual property,” Hunter’s lawyer, Larry Hutcher stated.
The Kenya Times understands Black Ice is based on the book “Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895 to 1925,” which was written by George and Darril Fosty.
Hunter also included George and Darril Fosty in the lawsuit.
Also Read: LeBron James Escapes Sanction Over Covid-19 Rule Breach
According to Hunter, the authors of the book struck a deal with James and Drake behind the defendants’ backs after they had already paid $265,000 for the rights to the film it.
The lawsuit confirmed that Fostys acknowledge that Hunter owned the movie rights.
He, however, argue that the Black Ice documentary was a “separate entity” that wasn’t within the parameter of their deal.
Hunter made it clear that he paid $250,000 for the “exclusive worldwide rights” to any “audiovisual” version of the story.
