(EXCLUSIVE) Jay Z Asks Judge To Wrap Up Roc-A-Fella Masters Lawsuit

Jay Z

theJasmineBRAND.com exclusively reports, Jay-Z is accusing his former employee attempting to drag out a legal battle over Roc-A-Fella master recordings worth an estimated $15 million dollars. The music mogul is demanding the Federal Court judge help him out in the case.

Here’s the latest: On August 18th, Jay-Z went to court demanding the judge not allow Chauncey to continue drag out the already years long battle over the Roc-A-Fella masters.

The mogul explains that earlier this year, the Appeal Court was reviewing both parties arguments and was about to come back with their decision, until it was discovered that Chauncey filed for bankruptcy without allegedly informing his creditors, including his former boss.

The Appeal Court informed him they would not come back with a decision until the bankruptcy judge lifted the automatic stay of other lawsuits including the Appeal.

He was granted a lift of the automatic stay by the bankruptcy judge and the Appeal Court then came back with their decision and affirmed the original decision to dismiss all claims against Jay-Z & the order over the $250k in attorney fees.

Jay Z

Further, they believed Chauncey’s appeal was “frivolous” in nature and therefore decided to award Jay-Z even more attorney fees, which he incurred defending himself in the Appeal.

They sent the case back down to the lower court to have that judge determine how much more Jay-Z will be awarded for his legal bills. The rapper explains that the judge has been fully briefed and is close to determine the amount owed.

However, he accuses Chauncey of continuing to play dirty games in the legal battle, due to him filing a motion to reinstate the automatic bankruptcy stay in the case, which if granted would essentially prevent the lower court judge from coming back with his decision on the attorney fees.

Jay Z is demanding the man not be allowed to put the brakes on the case right before the judge is close to wrapping up the case.

Jay-Z explains he isn’t even trying to collect on the $250k+ he is owed from Chauncey, but rather he only wants to know how much he will be awarded. He says that forestalling the case would serve no purpose and would needlessly delay the resolution of the few remaining issues.

Here’s the backstory: Back in 2014, Jay-Z’s former sound engineer, Chauncey Mahan, became the center of an alleged theft and extortion plot all over a collection of the rappers master recordings –worth an estimated $15-$20 million.

Jay-Z had a massive collection of masters that he recorded between 1998-2002 while at Roc-A-Fella Records, but the masters went missing in 2002 and had been missing for over a decade.

Chauncey allegedly had a number of the masters in a California storage unit. The man had contacted Live Nation – who works with Jay-Z under his label Roc Nation – and said he planned to auction off the masters unless he was paid a ‘storage fee’. Eventually an agreement was made for him to hand over the collection and he would be paid $75k.

They agreed to meet up at the storage unit to finalize the deal but when Chauncey arrived he was greeted by the LAPD, who were called by Jay-Z’s team. The police detained Mahan and questioned him over the alleged extortion plot. Mahan agreed to hand over the tapes until a judge determined whom the rightful owner was.

The investigation was eventually closed due to Jay-Z’s camp not wanting to pursue extortion charges.

Mahan filed a lawsuit against Jay-Z around the same time, in which he claimed he was a key producer and creator of Roc-A-Fella’s entire catalog. He demanded he be listed as co-owner of the song copyrights along with a cut of the profits.

Jay-Z

Jay-Z demanded the suit be thrown out and said the former employee was a scam artist. The judge sided with the music mogul and dismissed all the claims, stating the man’s arguments were ‘frivolous’ and awarded him nothing. The judge ordered the man to pay Jay-Z and Roc Nation over $250k for attorney fees. He appealed the dismissal of his lawsuit and the order for attorney fees but lost.

Then earlier this year, Chauncey returned to court and slapped Jay-Z’s lawyers, the LAPD, NYPD and several officers with a Federal Lawsuit.

He explained the law firm Reed Smith LLP – who represents Roc Nation – were fully aware of his storage unit and the contents. However, they choose to file a “sham” criminal complaint rather than file a civil lawsuit. Chauncey believes the lawyers knew their lies and Jay-Z’s celebrity would enable them to properly frame him.

The man said the LAPD and their officers illegally confiscated his property without a court order and unconstitutionally deprived him of his liberty. He claims they never told him the masters would be taken or given an opportunity to redeem it. He filed suit demanding over $100 million dollars in damages.

Chauncey is also currently in the middle of a Chapter 13 bankruptcy that he filed in November. One of the creditors in the case is Jay-Z due to him being awarded $250k in attorney fees after he was victorious in the legal battle with his ex-employee. Once a person filed for bankruptcy, any lawsuits they are involved in which are pending are stayed — meaning they all are put on pause until the outcome of the bankruptcy — unless a judge lifts the stay and allows the suit to continue on during the bankruptcy.

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