New York based independent record label TVT Records has been ordered to pay Slip-N-Slide Records $9.1 million in punitive and compensatory damages. After an 11-day trial, a federal jury agreed that TVT did in fact attempt to block Slip-N-Slide from releasing music by Miami based artist Pitbull. According to the Miami Herald, the suit was filed after Slip-N-Slide attempted to release their compilation album, Welcome to the 305, back in 2005. The LP featured vocals from Pitbull that were recorded prior to the release of his LP, M.I.A.M.I., on TVT in June of 2006. TVT felt that Florida based Slip-N-Slide, home to artists such as Trick Daddy and Rick Ross, was trying to capitalize off Pitbull’s sudden prominence on the national hip-hop scene. TVT then attempted to halt the release by sending out hundreds of letters to distributors saying the album had been illegally recorded. “TVT had objected to vocal snippets from early demos of our recording artist Pitbull being placed into new music, by new producers, with new hooks, new song titles and new material by new guest artists all repackaged for sale without the artist’s approval or involvement,” the company said in a statement. TVT also claimed that Pitbull’s logo and photos were used without permission. Slip-N-Slide’s attorney Richard C. Wolfe countered, “The jury rejected all those claims. We own the album. We’re going to tack $1 million to $2 million in legal fees onto this too.”

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