Rapper's 2007 Hit At the Center of Dispute
6:00AM ET December 16th, 2010
Contributor : Stephen Willis
A Rocky Williform Company

A lawsuit filed against 50 Cent and several other parties claims that the rapper stole the instrumental track for his 2007 hit "I Get Money." Lawyers for Tyrone Simmons, an Atlanta rapper who goes by "Caliber," filed a copyright infringement lawsuit Wednesday (December 15) in federal court in Brooklyn.

Naming 50, the track's producer, and several companies, the lawsuit seeks unspecified damages. It alleges that Simmons had bought the rights to the instrumental track, and that 50 Cent and others used it illegally. According to the Associated Press, a representative for 50 Cent's record company declined comment.

"The misappropriation of copyright-protected material is an endemic problem in the music business, and particularly in the genre of hip-hop/rap. This is one such case," said Louis D. Tambaro, an attorney at Red Bank, N.J.-based Marks & Klein, LLP, which represents Simmons. "Our client was granted exclusive rights to the 'I Get Money' instrumental and was unceremoniously cut out of the loop when the defendants realized they had a huge hit on their hands."