Your honor, I present ‘Exhibit A’
Atlantic Records is firing back against the man who’s suing Cardi B over the tattoo shown on the cover of Gangsta Bitch Music, Volume 1.
The corresponding lawsuit was filed in 2017, and in it, Kevin Brophy Jr. and his legal team argue that the back tattoo of a model (The6atSix) featured on Gangsta Bitch’s cover infringes on Brophy Jr.’s similar tattoo, thereby entitling him to a portion of the work’s royalties — and possibly a percentage of all the money Cardi B has made as an artist.
Furthermore, because of the model’s extremely compromising position and the fact that Brophy Jr. frequently removes his shirt on the job (at a surf-related company), it’s alleged that the photo could damage his (Brophy Jr.’s) reputation.
A little over a week ago, Brophy Jr. and his lawyers submitted a powerfully worded reiteration of the case and a motion to compel Empire Distribution (the company behind Gangsta Bitch Music, Volume 1) and Atlantic Records (owned by Warner Music Group_ to disclose the mixtape’s royalty information, in addition to earnings statistics from throughout Cardi’s career.
Now, Atlantic Records has entered the legal battle. A self-acknowledged “non-party” to the court case, Atlantic’s most recent filing disputes Brophy Jr.’s “procedurally and substantively defective Motion to compel.”
The first component of Atlantic’s opposition to the motion to compel centers on their status in the case—or lack thereof. The filing states that Brophy Jr. and his legal team have “served multiple Subpoenas on non-parties” instead of seeking royalty information directly from Cardi B and Empire Distribution.
Next, Atlantic indicates that they agreed to provide certain royalty-related documentation, only to see the “plaintiff renege and demand more and then file this Motion.” It’s further alleged that Brophy Jr. violated multiple federal statutes “by misusing a subpoena to obtain from a non-party information and documents in the defendants’ possession,” or, in other words, pursuing Atlantic for non-relevant information and evidence that Cardi B or Empire Distribution could have provided.
Atlantic’s filing also calls for the dismissal of the motion to compel, as well as reimbursement for all legal fees, before specifying possible discrepancies and oversights in the plaintiff’s motion-delivery procedures.
Last year, Cardi B offered a deposition as part of this case, though she hasn’t recently commented on the matter in public. Earlier this week, the well-known rapper made headlines after her “coronavirus” remix climbed the iTunes charts. A portion of the song’s earnings are expected to support those who’ve suffered financially as a result of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.