50 Cent Facing Lawsuit Over Copyright Infringement

Another day, another lawsuit. 50 Cent is being accused of copyright infringement by an author who claims Fif stole the idea for Before I Self Destruct, from his 2008 book The Preachers Son — But the Streets Turned Me Into a Gangster.

According to court documents, obtained by Entertainment Weekly, Shadrach Winstead believes there are moments in 50’s 2009 disc and movie of the same name that are too similar to his book to be ignored. He compares the following section from his book—“My father and my mother were arguing a lot and sometimes she would leave and come stay with her mother and there would be just me, my father and my brother”—to the G-Unit General’s flick—“It was just me, my mother and my brother. My father went looking for a job and never came back. Now it’s just me, my mother and my brother.”

Winstead, who is also suing for unfair competition, is asking a judge to order the Queens rapper to surrender all of the profits earned from the sales of the album. 50 Cent has yet to comment on the suit. —Elan Mancini