Why did Cylia Senii sue T.I. and Grand Hustle Films? Rapper addresses lawsuit over his upcoming film ‘Situationships’

Rapper-actor T.I. is pushing back on the lawsuit against the name of his forthcoming film, Situationships.

Cylia Senii, the creator of a web series of the same name, has accused the rapper and his production company, Grand Hustle Films, of copyright infringement. However, T.I. has noted that the name is too generic.

Hot 97 has reported that in the court filings, Senii has accused the mogul of trying to profit off the name and recognition of her successful digital series, in addition to unfair competition and civil conspiracy. Her series made its debut on YouTube, and was eventually shifted to BET Digital and Amazon Prime.

She is now seeking restitution in the form of monetary damages and a court order that blocks the name from being used for the film. She also claims to have been developing the series into a TV and film project since 2019,

The suit was first reported by AllHipHop, and per Hot 97 the complaint reads:

“Defendants are engaging in a common scheme and effort to take advantage of the public’s association of Featherstone’s ‘Situationships’ brand by marketing their own film and entitling it ‘Situationships.’”

Everything we know about the case against T.I.

As reported by AllHipHop, however, T.I. stood his ground in federal court this week. His attorneys filed a legal response in the Southern District of New York, denying all of Senii's claims. Noting that the title of the film was too generic to be protected, they claimed that Senii has yet to prove ownership or widespread fame of the brand.

Hot 97 has reported that T.I.'s lawyers are also pushing for the case to be tried in Georgia, which is where most of the parties involved are based, as opposed to New York. Furthermore, they maintained that the use of Situationships as a title was not meant to piggyback off of someone else's work.

The Source has reported that the federal court sided with Senii, albeit temporarily. Earlier this month, an injunction was issued that put a hold to all production or promotion of T.I.'s forthcoming film until the legal proceedings were done.

In her lawsuit, Senii also referenced T.I. and his wife, Tameka “Tiny” Harris's $71 million victory in a seperate lawsuit against a toy company that made similar dolls to their own, OMG Girlz. Senii claimed that T.I. should be aware of the importance of protecting creativity. She also claims to have sent the cease and desist letter in December, as she contested the rapper's attempts to trademark the title of the film.

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As of this writing, neither the rapper nor his production company has issued a statement.

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