LIL WAYNE HIT WITH LAWSUIT OVER ROYALTIES

Lil Wayne's legal woes are mounting - the prison-bound rapper is facing a lawsuit over royalties from his 2008 song Mrs. Officer.

Record producer Darius 'Deezle' Harrison and music publishers at The Royalty Network are demanding $2.5 million for the use of the track on Wayne's Grammy-winning album Tha Carter III.

In a suit filed at Manhattan Federal Court in New York City on Wednesday (17Feb10), the plaintiffs allege they own the rights to the song, and rights to any profits from ring tones, music videos or streaming media.

Last year (09), executives at Wayne's label, Cash Money Records, agreed to temporarily halt payments from Mrs. Officer amid allegations Harrison lifted parts of the track from a song called Crush, which producer Michael 'Mali Boy' Bradford composed for a little-known artist named Sky.

Mrs. Officer isn't the only song Lil Wayne, real name Dwayne Carter, Jr., has had legal problems with - he is also fighting allegations he illegally sampled songwriter Karma-Ann Swanepoel's Once in his track I Feel Like Dying.

Wayne is expected to begin serving time for his 2007 arrest for gun possession next month (Mar10).