50 Cent Gets Sued

A leading fast food emporium is counter-suing the rapper

50 Cent is being counter sued by fast food chain Taco Bell who he claims used his image without his permission.

Fiddy filed a lawsuit for Trademark Infringement earlier this year after the company put out adverts saying he should change his name to 79 Cent or 99 Cent!

Now the chain have hit back in a countersuit calling the rapper a self-described former drug dealer and hustler and adding that he has a well-publicized track record for making threats, starting feuds and filing lawsuits.

Taco Bells lawyers said: The challenge " asking Jackson to temporarily change his name ... for charity " was a soft ridicule and good-natured lampoon of the rapper's moniker, 50 Cent, and his public image as a gangsta rapper."

Speaking to MTV News in the US a rep for 50 Cent- real name Curtis Jackson- said: Mr. Jackson filed this lawsuit to protect his valuable trademark and privacy rights against infringers like Taco Bell, who seek to make money using his name without his permission.

Mr. Jackson intends to demonstrate that Taco Bell and its affiliated companies have used this same infringing tactic before by issuing press releases using other celebrities' names, such as Rihanna, Chris Brown, Fergie and Paris Hilton. Mr. Jackson believes that Taco Bell needs to be stopped.

50 Cent will release his new album Before I Self Destruct in early 2009.

It was recently confirmed that the rapper will star in a British gangster film

ADDITIONAL REPORTING BY GIL KAUFMAN

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