Notorious B.I.G. Estate Ruling, My Chemical Romance Case, Drake Lawsuit & More Music Law News
Categoria: Musica
In this week's Legal Beat newsletter, a ruling on Biggie's estate, a battle over cheerleader uniforms, a quick end to a case against Drake and much more.
Por Billboard | 03/11/2026
THE BIG STORY: A messy lawsuit over The Notorious B.I.G. got a final ruling, but a broader legal war over the rap legend’s estate is far from over. A judge ruled last week that Biggie’s widow Faith Evans must immediately distribute $14 million in estate profits to a trust set up by his late mother, Voletta Wallace, before she died last year. Much of the disputed money came from the estate’s landmark 2025 catalog deal with Primary Wave, which acquired a stake in the iconic rapper’s copyrights and likeness rights. Related Notorious B.I.G. Estate Lawsuit Ends With Faith Evans Sending $14M to Voletta Wallace’s Trust Kenny MacPherson, Veteran Music Publisher and Big Deal Music Co-Founder, Dies at 71 Diddy Moved From New Jersey Prison to Similar Facility in Pennsylvania The monetary judgment resolved a case filed by Wayne Barrow , Biggie’s former manager who runs that trust, that claimed Evans was refusing to recognize that the group had inherited Voletta’s 25 percent cut of estate profits. It followed an August ruling in which the judge sided decisively with Barrow on that dispute — even quoting from Biggie’s posthumous track “Ten Crack Commandments.” “Wallace presciently cautioned: ‘Keep your family and business completely separated,’” wrote the judge. “After Wallace’s tragic death, however, his mother and widow did exactly the opposite.” Barring reversal on appeal, last week’s ruling will end the lawsuit between Barrow and Evans. But it won’t resolve a separate case, filed by Biggie’s son CJ, that claims Barrow manipulated Voletta into giving him complete control of her estate before she died. The manager has denied those accusations and claimed CJ’s lawsuit was engineered by Evans, which her lawyers deny. That case remains in the earliest stages, meaning that even after last week’s big ruling, we still have months or years of legal battles ahead over the final affairs of The Notorious B.I.G. Stay tuned. You’re reading the Legal Beat , a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro , offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday, subscribe here . Other top stories this week… — Following Lil Durk ’s murder-for-hire acquittal, Jay-Z and J. Cole urged a judge to release the rapper on bail as he awaits a second trial on racketeering charges: “Release would allow [Durk] to support his family and continue the work in his community that I saw firsthand,” Hov wrote. — A lawsuit filed against My Chemical Romance by the Dallas Cowboys Cheerleaders quickly ended after the band promised it wouldn’t use look-alike uniforms in future shows. But later court filings claimed that had actually always been the plan — and that the lawsuit didn’t factor in. — The headline-grabbing copyright case accusing Drake of stealing the chorus of his smash single “Janice STFU” was abruptly dropped , two weeks after it was filed and af