The battle continues between rapper Rick Ross and “Freeway” Rick Ross over the
use of the name “Rick Ross.”
It started in 2010 when Freeway Rick took rapper Rick (born William Leonard Roberts II) to court for acquiring his name and likeness to launch his rap career.Rapper Rick came out the victor in a separate federal lawsuit ruling that Freeway Rick cannot capitalize off his own name since it was built off of committing real crimes. The appeal in state court also ruled in Rapper Rick’s favor because it exceeded the statue of limitations on allegations against him which resulted in the case being dismissed.
On Tuesday, a federal judge ruled that this case could continue in court.
According to the ruling, Freeway Rick Ross can continue to pursue Warner
Brothers, since rapper Rick Ross and his record label, Maybach Music Group, have a deal with the label. Freeway Rick has ten days to amend his lawsuit for false advertising, unfair business practice and unjust enrichment. To make the
situation worse for Freeway Rick, rapper Rick Ross received a federal trademark
back in 2006 for the name and has been freely using it since his first album
debut. Freeway Rick Ross is best known as an urban legend drug kingpin with an empire that earned over $2 million per day. He’s also been the topic of several
articles regarding the Iran-Contra scandal and was also featured on the popular
tv documentary show “American Gangster.”
It will be very interesting to see the outcome of a fight between a former
correctional officer and a real gangsta.
