They want the court to crack down on sellers making millions off of the late rapper’s name.
On the heels of news that a singer believes she’s been stiffed in royalties owned to her by Nipsey Hussle, the late rapper’s estate is targeting people profiting from fake merchandise. Singer Tasmeela Yasin claims she co-wrote “Hussle & Motivate” and was never paid royalties from Nipsey’s Victory Lap project, and not long after the rapper’s estate denied her allegations, they have reportedly returned to go after bootleggers.
According to TMZ, the estate has stated that the majority of fake merch sellers are stationed in China, but that has not stopped them from being served with a lawsuit.
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Sam Asghedom, Nipsey’s brother, is the administrator of the estate and according to the outlet, he has issued a “suit against several entities that the estate believes are behind a bunch of e-commerce websites selling knockoff Marathon-related clothing.” A simple search through certain overseas websites and apps shows clothing and accessories sporting many of Nipsey’s logos, including the popular “Crenshaw” script—and it is all being done without permission.
The lawsuit also reportedly states that many of the fake merch sellers are linked to different online retailers and it is obvious that they are connected because they host the same misspelled words and tactics. “The estate also believes a lot of these sites are operating out of China, and perhaps in concert with one another, using different operating systems and domain host sites to cover their tracks,” reports TMZ.
The estate is hoping that the court will award them domain registrars, all profits on trademarked materials, “or $2 million per infraction.”
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