Insurer On The Hook For Hip Hop Artist Fat Joe’s Defense

Rapper Fly Havana was working on a song called “All the Way Up.” He decided to “shop” the unfinished song to his colleague Fat Joe, a hip-hop artist, so that Fat Joe could continue to develop and release it.

Over the next few months, Fat Joe worked on the song and an album with the same name. After release, the album became a double platinum recording, which in the world of music means it sold more than 2 million copies.

Fly Havana was not compensated for his role in the song. So, Fly Havana sued Fat Joe.

He brought forth claims of “constructive trust, unjust enrichment, quantum meruit, conversion, moneys had and received, breach of fiduciary duties, and negligence/gross negligence.”

Fat Joe held a $1 million claims-made music professional liability insurance policy with Homeland Insurance Company of New York. The policy named both Fat Joe and his record label, Sneaker Addict, as insureds under the policy.