Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine Slapped With Lawsuit From Beats Co-Founder

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine may be celebrating prematurely after Apple reportedly acquired Beats Electronics for $3.2 billion but now they are facing some legal drama.

Steven Lamar, a former hedge-fund manager, claims to be the "father" of the Beats headphones franchise and he wants a piece of the pie.

According to the Hollywood Reporter, he has slapped Dre, Iovine and other parties with a lawsuit claiming breach of contract and is demanding his four percent stake in the company.

In his suit, Lamar, who was the former president of SLS International, took his idea of a celebrity artist-endorsed headphones to Iovine in 2006, and thus Beats Electronics was born.

"Lamar's concept envisioned a partnership between technology that would provide a superior audio experience and an iconic product design and brand identity promoted by a well-known and respected music artist," reads Lamar's cross-complaint. "Iovine proposed that Dre be the celebrity musical artist to endorse the headphones."

When Beats decided to go with Monster, LLC as its distribution partner, Dre and Iovine were to get a 20 percent royalty cut while Lamar was promised a five percent royalty stream.

In July 2006, Dre and Iovine filed a lawsuit against Lamar and other parties for not fulfilling their contractual obligations. They would eventually settle the case and agreed to pay Lamar and his co-defendants a four percent royalty on certain headphones, though which ones were not specified. Lamar claims he hasn't received any monies from the settlement.

Dr. Dre and Jimmy Iovine's attorneys had no comment on the matter.

You can read Steven Lamar’s cross-filing against Dr. Dre, Jimmy Iovine and Beats Electronics below.

Source: Beats Cross