Last Friday, St. Louis rapper Michael “Dutch” Jackson filed a 31-page complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District against ESPN, And1, Amazon.com and other companies. Jackson alleges the companies used his song, “I Am the Greatest,” for marketing purposes without his permission.
“Defendants and those acting by, through and under them have used the plaintiffs’ work to market and sell literally millions of dollars of products, without compensation to the plaintiff,” the complaint read.
Jackson stated that he wrote and recorded the song, but didn’t officially release it to the various companies who used the work without his permission. Jackson’s complaint seeks monetary damages, both compensatory and punitive, for “all sales, income and profit earned.” According to Jackson’s legal team, each company that used “I Am the Greatest” directly violated the Federal Copyright Act, Federal Lanham Act, and various state laws.
