INSUBCONTINENT EXCLUSIVE:
Image copyrightGetty ImagesImage caption
Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine first worked together on Dre's album The Chronic
Beats.Steven Lamar claimed credit for the idea of creating a brand of celebrity-endorsed headphones
He took the idea to Dre and Iovine in 2006; and the first Beats headphones were released two years later, based on a design by Robert
Brunner.The parties later fell out, and Lamar sued over unpaid royalties in 2016.At the centre of their dispute was a 2007 settlement, in
which Dre and Iovine agreed to pay Lamar 4% of the base price of every headphone they sold
Only one model, Beats Studio, was specified but Lamar argued the design had been carried over to a dozen different models, and sought $130m
Studio 3 - had design similarities; and ordered that Dre and Iovine should pay Lamar $25,247,350.With the Studio 3 still on sale, the
verdict means Lamar will continue to receive royalties in addition to the court-mandated payout
The trial saw Dre and Iovine testify about the origin of Beats - a story they told at length in the recent HBO documentary series The
Defiant Ones.Lamar's lawyer said the jury had seen through their attempts to gloss over his client's role."They tried to paint him as some
guy who was just there at the right time and the right place, and they already had the idea," Brian Melton told Billboard
"I don't think that was it at all and I think we proved just the opposite: That before they met Lamar, they hadn't thought about this and he
gave it to them on a silver platter.He added: "For anybody who has a great idea and brings it to a company and then doesn't get the
recognition or credit that they're due what this jury verdict says is, if that happens to you and you're a little person, you can go into
court and have a jury of American citizens determine whether you're right or wrong
"And if you're right, you get the credit that you're owed."Beats, which later became a music streaming service as well as a headphone
company, was acquired by Apple Music in a $3bn deal in 2014
Lamar's legal case was filed before that deal, and did not name Apple as a defendant.Follow us on Facebook, on Twitter
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