music star 50 cent must arbitrate

Music Star 50 Cent Must Arbitrate Contract Dispute

After one signed contract, two failed attempts to perform and two

unexecuted contracts, hip hop artist 50 Cent must arbitrate a dispute

with his concert producer, pursuant to a provision in the only

applicable contract.

In Jackson v. Iris.com, No. 1:07CV961, 2007 WL 4409790 (E.D. Va. Dec.

19, 2007), concert producer Iris sought to book Jackson, widely known

as 50 Cent, for a concert series. Iris negotiated with G*Town to

retain 50 Cent's services and entered into a contract with G*Town. The

contract contained a provision to arbitrate all disputes under the

contract, as well as a liquidated damages provision in case of a

breach by Iris or Jackson.

G*Town negotiated to secure 50 Cent's performance with ATA, 50 Cent's

booking agent, but no contract was executed between ATA and G*Town.

Later, legal counsel for 50 Cent and Iris directly negotiated for 50

Cent's performance in the concert series. Those negotiations also

failed and no contract was executed.

Alleging breach of contract for failure to perform, Iris demanded

arbitration against 50 Cent and G*Town pursuant to the arbitration

agreement in the Iris-G*Town contract. 50 Cent responded by filing a

complaint to stay arbitration and for summary judgment, alleging in

part that he was a non-signatory to the contract.

The federal district court held that 50 Cent was not a signatory to

the Iris-G*Town contract, but was nevertheless bound to arbitrate

Iris's allegations of breach. The Court found that the Iris-G*Town

contract was the only executed contract that could control the

dispute. The Court also found that a party claiming the benefit of a

contract (50 Cent had received $150,000 at time of contract execution)