Kanye West wins infringement lawsuit against Latin band

Kanye West has won a legal battle against Latin band Loisaidas over the name of the rapper's 2015 film.

In April, 2015, singer Michael Medina, one half of New York-based duo Loisaidas, hit the Stronger hitmaker and rap mogul Damon Dash with an infringement lawsuit over their movie Loisaidas - a nickname for New York City's Lower East Side neighbourhood.

Medina claimed West and Dash were infringing on and devaluing his act's name due to the violence and drug dealing themes in the movie, but on Thursday (14Jul16), U.S. District Judge Katherine Forrest sided with the hip-hop heavyweights and dismissed Medina's complaint, citing artistic relevance.

According to documents obtained by The Hollywood Reporter, Forrest ruled Medina's suit is "devoid of concrete allegations" West and Dash suggested the Latin duo produced the film, since the movie clearly and prominently promoted the project with "Executive Producers Damon Dash and Kanye West".

She added Medina is "entitled to protect his duo's trademark, but not by staking his claim to a pre-existing term and then attempting to remove all expressive, non-explicitly-misleading uses from public circulation."