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Dr Dre and Jimmy Iovine first labored collectively on Dre's album The Chronic
Dr Dre and music mogul Jimmy Iovine have been ordered to pay $25.2m (£19.2m) to a former accomplice of their headphone firm, Beats.
Steven Lamar claimed credit score for the thought of making a model of celebrity-endorsed headphones.
He took the thought to Dre and Iovine in 2006; and the primary Beats headphones had been launched two years later, based mostly on a design by Robert Brunner.
The events later fell out, and Lamar sued over unpaid royalties in 2016.
At the centre of their dispute was a 2007 settlement, wherein Dre and Iovine agreed to pay Lamar four% of the bottom value of each headphone they offered.
Only one mannequin, Beats Studio, was specified however Lamar argued the design had been carried over to a dozen totally different fashions, and sought $130m (£99m) in royalties.
A jury in Los Angeles determined that three pairs of headphonesthe Studio 2 Remastered, the Studio 2 Wireless and the Studio threehad design similarities; and ordered that Dre and Iovine ought to pay Lamar $25,247,350.
With the Studio three nonetheless on sale, the decision means Lamar is not going to cease to obtain royalties along with the court-mandated payout.
The trial noticed Dre and Iovine testify in regards to the origin of Beatsa story they advised at size within the current HBO documentary sequence The Defiant Ones.
Lamar's lawyer stated the jury had seen by means of their makes an attempt to gloss over his client's position.
"They tried to paint him as some guy who was just there at the right time and the right place, and they already had the idea," Brian Melton advised Billboard.
"I do not assume that was it in any respect and I feel we proved simply the other: That earlier than they met Lamar, they hadn't thought of this and he gave it to them on a silver platter.
He added: "For anyone who has a nice concept and brings it to a firm after which does not get the popularity or credit score that they are due... what this jury verdict says is, if that occurs to you and also you're a little particular person, you possibly can go into court docket and have a jury of American residents decide whether or not you are proper or flawed.
"And if you're right, you get the credit that you're owed."
Beats, which later turned a music streaming service in addition to a headphone firm, was acquired by Apple Music in a $3bn deal in 2014.
Lamar's authorized case was filed earlier than that deal, and didn't identify Apple as a defendant.