But the star was hit with a lawsuit from novelist Shadrach Winstead last year (10), who alleged 50 Cent took the idea for the multi-media project from his 2008 book, The Preacher's Son-But The Streets Turned Me Into A Gangster.
Winstead claimed in documents that the rapper "infringed the copyright by publishing and selling an audio visual work (a movie released in DVD format), coupled with an audio recording. In many cases, the content and word choice used by Defendants in their work is identical to that used in Plaintiff's book."
But the star, real name Curtis Jackson III, has now been cleared of any wrongdoing after a judge at a federal court in Newark, New Jersey dismissed the copyright infringement case against him and his G-Unit record label, reports All Hip Hop.
A representative for Reed Smith, who took on the case for Jackson, tells the website, "With respect to the various specific phrases and lines which Winstead alleged that our client took from the book, we demonstrated that many were misquoted, manipulated or not in the movie at all and that, in any event, they were non-copyrightable short phrases or unpredictable expressions used in the 'street' such as 'get the dope, cut the dope.'
"Lastly, we argued that the pendent State law claims Winstead asserted were pre-empted by the Copyright Act. Judge Chesler agreed on all points and dismissed the complaint in its entirety."