Poet Files Copyright Lawsuit Against Insane Clown Posse
DETROIT (WWJ/AP) - An Ohio man claims Detroit rap-metal group Insane Clown Posse — specifically, member Joseph Bruce — used a poem he wrote without his consent.
Stanley Gebhardt filed the copyright infringement lawsuit Tuesday in federal court in Detroit.
It seeks monetary damages and asks a judge to force Bruce and the group to stop using Gebhardt's "But You Didn't."
The suit says the poem, about a father-son relationship, was copyrighted in 1993.
Gebhardt's attorney, Michael Dezsi, told the Detroit Free Press his client learned in 2015 that a video of Bruce reciting the poem had been posted on YouTube. Bruce, who goes by the stage name Violent J, called it "Violent J's Poem."
The words are, in part:
"Everybody just listen to me. I looked at you and smiled the other day; I thought you'd see me, but you didn't. I said I love you, and waited for what you'd say; I thought you'd hear me, but you didn't.
"I asked you to come outside and play ball with me; I thought you'd follow me, but you didn't. I drew a picture just for you to see; I thought you'd save it forever, but you didn't."
Attorney Howard Hertz, who represents ICP, did not immedaily respond to a request from the Associated Press Thursday for comment.
© Copyright 2017 CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved. The Associated Press contributed to this report.