Rick Ross is allowed to keep his rap moniker after a judge sided with him in appeals court, on the grounds of the First Amendment.
It looks as though the on-going battle between rapper Rick Ross and former drug lord Freeway Rick Ross has finally come to a close. It’s been exhaustive, to say the least. In March a judge had ruled against Freeway Ricky claiming he took too long to file his suit against the MMG boss (he apparently was aware the rapper was using his name since 2006 but only filed his complaint in 2010), but the OG Rick Ross wasn’t giving up, as he followed up in appeals court.
However, Freeway Ricky’s appeal wasn’t quite as successful as he would have liked. THR reports that in his appeal, Freeway Rick Ross asked whether the rapper’s work with a new record label could be considered as part of the same “single publication” as his previous work, or should be considered a “republication” that entitled the former kingpin to bring forth his claims yet again. In the end, judge Roger Boren dismissed the case under the First Amendment.
“We recognize that Roberts’ work—his music and persona as a rap musician—relies to some extent on plaintiff’s name and persona,” Judge Boren stated. “Roberts chose to use the name ‘Rick Ross.’ He raps about trafficking in cocaine and brags about his wealth. These were ‘raw materials’ from which Roberts’ music career was synthesized. But these are not the ‘very sum and substance’ of Roberts’ work.”
