Major League Baseball

Rapper Jay-Z sues David Ortiz over nightclub name

Published Apr. 16, 2010 10:03 p.m. ET

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Jay-Z and a business partner are suing slugger David Ortiz, claiming the Boston Red Sox star named his Dominican nightclub after the hip hop mogul's chain of 40/40 nightclubs.

The lawsuit, filed Thursday in a federal court in Manhattan, accuses Ortiz and his sister of naming their Santo Domingo club Forty-Forty in the hopes of trading in on the rapper's name.

The suit seeks more than $5 million in damages and for Ortiz to forfeit any use of the name.

Jay-Z, a Yankees fan who performed at the team's World Series victory parade last year, opened his original 40/40 club in Manhattan with business partner Juan Perez in 2003

He promoted the sports bar and lounge by dropping references to it in rap hits like ``Dirt Off Your Shoulder.'' The pair subsequently opened up 40/40 clubs in Las Vegas and Atlantic City and have licensed the name to operators in Tokyo and Macau.

``David Ortiz is fully aware of plaintiff's Manhattan 40/40 club, since he had been a patron there on several occasions before he opened his Infringing Forty/Forty club,'' the lawsuit said

Court filings included photographs of Ortiz at the club.

SFX Baseball, the agency that represents Ortiz, did not respond to phone and e-mail messages.

The 40/40 club's lawyers also asked the court to block the slugger from using the Forty Forty name on his club's Web site.

Jay-Z's 40/40 club is named after the rare feat among ballplayers of hitting 40 homers and stealing 40 bases in one season.

Ortiz is a power hitter who has stolen 10 bases in 13 seasons, but he has hit more than 40 homers three times.

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