Jay-Z came out on top in the legal battle over “Reasonable Doubt” royalties, as the case has been dismissed officially. According to court documents obtained by The Blast, Jay-Z and the man who sued him, Raynard Herbert, have both agreed to dismiss the lawsuit.
Per their deal, the case will be closed without the option to refile and each side will pay their own court costs.
Last year, Herbert aka “Ray Rae” sued Jay-Z, Roc-A-Fella Records, Roc Nation and Damon Dash.
Herbert claimed he worked with Jay-Z on his 1996 debut album “Reasonable Doubt.” In his suit, he said he helped master the album and arranged its distribution agreement. Herbert claimed he used his music business connections to lock down that agreement. He alleged the deal he had was for him to be paid 1% of the album profits.
He said the royalty checks started coming in around 1998 but then all of a sudden stopped in November 2008. Herbert tried to reach out to Roc-A-Fella and the other defendants but never got a response. He then sued seeking an accounting for all sales of “Reasonable Doubt” since 2008, when his checks stopped arriving.
Jay-Z denied all allegations of wrongdoing and asked for the entire case to be dismissed. The music mogul argued the case was brought well past the statute of limitations.
This is the second lawsuit in months that was dismissed against Jay-Z. His former lawyers dropped their legal battle over alleged unpaid bills relating to work on the Tidal purchase.
With these issues being wrapped up, the music mogul can now focus on getting ready (with the rest of the world) for the premiere of LION KING with his wife Beyoncé.
