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JAY-Z is suing Damon Dash over claims his former Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder tried to sell his album Reasonable Doubt as a NFT (non-fungible digital token) without permission.

The 1996 debut was a huge success for JAY-Z, and went on to sell over a million copies. However, attorneys for the rapper claim that Dash had been planning to try and sell "the copyright to Jay-Z's album Reasonable Doubt, recognized as one of the greatest recordings in history" at "a SuperFarm Foundation online auction" on 23 June (21).

But after the auction was canceled, Dash allegedly began "frantically scouting for another venue to make the sale", JAY-Z's lawyers claim in paperwork filed in New York's Southern District Court on Friday (18Jun21), adding that the rapper believes his partner has already created a NFT version of the album.

"The sale of this irreplaceable asset must be stopped before it is too late, and Dash must be held accountable for his theft," they wrote. "Dash can't sell what he doesn't own. By attempting such a sale, Dash has converted a corporate asset and has breached his fiduciary duties. The court should stop Dash".and hold him accountable for his brazen theft."

JAY-Z, Dash and their Roc-A-Fella co-founder Kareem Burke each own one-third of the shares in the record label. But the legal papers argue that Dash "merely owns a third equity interest in Roc-A-Fella Inc, he does not own the copyright".and therefore has no right to sell the copyright or any individual ownership interests in Reasonable Doubt".

The papers also quote the SuperFarm auction announcement, which states that "the newly minted NFT will prove ownership of the album's copyright, transferring the rights to all future revenue generated by the album from Damon Dash to the auction winner".

Dash has yet to comment on the lawsuit.