Rapper Yo Gotti Sued In ‘Copyright Infringement’ Lawsuit For 28 Bars Song

Memphis rapper Yo Gotti, born Mario Mims, is being accused of ‘song jacking’ and is named in a copyright infringement lawsuit by Eric Dion Flemming for using the song “28 Bars” on a number of projects which include a variety of mixtapes including Cocaine Muzik 3 as well as selling it in online retailers.

Eric Dion Flemming, who is being represented by Amy J. Everhart, Maria A. Spear of Everhart Law Firm PLC filed his lawsuit in Nashville’s United States District Court for the Middle District of Tennessee on Thursday. Eric Dion Flemming claims the song “28 Bars” was originally given to one of Yo Gotti’s artists, Starlito (Jermaine Eric Shute), under Inevitable Entertainment which made its way to Yo Gotti.

In the lawsuit, Flemming states that he did not grant permission for anyone to use his work commercially and did not grant Shute or any other person to create any derivative works from his work.

AllHipHop reports that Flemming claims to have e-mailed Yo Gotti about the song, and Gotti didn’t deny the infringement.

The lawsuit names Mario Mims, his manager Brandon Cottrell (Brandon Mimms), Inevitable Entertainment LLC and Jordan Tower (Jordan Tower Films), who recorded a video for the work in question.

Retailers noted in the lawsuit, in which the work was sold on, include iTunes, CDUniverse, eMusic, Last.FM, CDBaby, Amazon, Pandora, MOG, SPotify, Rhapsody, Yahoo Music and a host of mixtape websites and file sharing sites.

Flemming, who says 28 bars was infringed upon, registered his work with the U.S. Copyright Office on September 27, 2011. Meanwhile, Yo Gotti’s release of “28 Bars” seems to date back as far as 2009 on multiple sites across the internet which include YouTube.

Eric Flemming is demanding to seek a trial by jury who will determine the actual damages and any additional profits as well as impoundment of the infringing articles and pre-judgement interest.