NBA Rumors: LeBron James, along with Future and Drake being sued for $10M over intellectual property rights for a hockey film

The LA Lakers superstar LeBron James is being sued for stealing “intellectual property rights” - along with rappers Drake and Future - for their documentary film “Black Ice.” The documentary focuses on anti-black racism that existed in hockey in the early 20the century, based on a book. The book, authored by George and Darril Fosty is titled “Black Ice: The Lost History of the Colored Hockey League of the Maritimes, 1895 to 1925.”

The suit was filed by Billy Hunter, who held the position of Executive Director of the NBA Players Union from 1996 to 2013. According to the complaint filed, he holds the exclusive legal rights to produce any film about the Colored Hockey League that existed from 1895 to 1930s.

“While the defendants LeBron James, Drake, and Maverick Carter [LeBron’s business partner] are internationally known and renowned in their respective fields of basketball and music, it does not afford them the right to steal another’s intellectual property.” read the law suit filed.

The defendants include ’The Spring Hill Company’, ’Uninterrupted Canada’, LeBron James' entertaiment companies, and ’Dreamcreww Entertainment, which belongs to Drake and Future. Even the authors of the book are listed as defendants. Hunter believes James and Drake brokered a deal with the authors, expecting no claims from him. But the current claim includes a share of profits from the documentary and $10 million in damages.

“"I don't think they believed the property rights would be litigated. They thought I would go away. They gambled," Hunter told the New York Post.

Making matters worse for James and his partners is the fact that the release of the documentary is scheduled for September 10th. The documentary is expected to be screened at the Toronto International Film Festival. It will be interesting to see how the lawsuit pans out, given the time constraints.

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LeBron James is gearing up for his 20th NBA season

LeBron James showed no signs of slowing down during the 2021-22 season, putting up exceptional individual numbers. He played 56 games, averaging 30.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 6.2 assists, while shooting an efficient 52.4% from the field. As always, James will surely believe that if he’s healthy, there’s nothing stopping him from putting up another strong season.

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LeBron James’ is 1,326 points away from surpassing Kareem Abdul-Jabbar on the all-time scoring list, with ESPN predicting January '23 to be the earliest he can achieve the feat. LeBron’s efforts during the offseason have been recognized by his harshest critic, Skip Bayless, as he recently said on “Undisputed:”

“OK, I believe this bodes well for this coming years Lakers. I believe LeBron is very proud of the work he has put in not only on his body, but in the lab. Yes, I believe he thinks he's primed to have a good to great year again at age 38, Year 20, right? He is itching to play basketball again.”

With Anthony Davis’ return and the Lakers summer moves it has increased the anticipation for the upcoming season. James will look to use the training camp to build up chemistry with the newcomers, going into the 2022-23 season.