Late Winnipeg rapper's mom sues Google, Facebook for access to son's accounts

The mother of late Winnipeg hip-hop artist Jaime Prefontaineis suing Google Inc., Facebook, SoundCloud and SOCAN (the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada), among others,for the rights to her late son's accounts.

Prefontaine, who performed with Winnipeg's Most under the name Brooklyn,died in September2015 at the age of 30.His family never publicly released the cause of death.

In a statement of claim, Prefontaine's mother, Loretta Flamand,says a year before her son died, he registered the business name Young Successful Music Group (YSMG) and started to produce music for local Winnipeg artists like Finalie and Illiano.

Flamand, who is the executrix of her son's estate, says he also created a number of accounts "for the purposes of YSMG'sbusiness interests and the monetization of its produced music."

The statement of claim, filed in Manitoba's Court of Queen's Bench July 27, lists a number of accounts, including a YouTube channel, a Facebook page and Gmail account.

"In or around Jaime's death, the accounts' login information, including the passwords, were taken from the premises in which YSMG operated and were since changed, preventing access by the estate to the account," said the claim.

The lawsuit says Flamanddoesn't know the identity of theperson or peoplewho took the login information. The passwords have since been changed, according to the lawsuit, which has prevented Flamandand her son'sestate from accessing the accounts.

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"Further, the naming of the accounts, particularly the YouTube, SoundCloud and Facebook accounts, have been re-named to Young & Successful (Y&S), while still utilizing material and content from YSMG,"the court fillings say.

The lawsuit says Prefontaine's estate has tried to access the accounts and obtain any monies received from royalties but hasn't been able to because the passwords were changed. Flamand contacted Google, Facebook, YouTube and the other organizations requesting access but was denied.

Flamand and Prefontaine's estate are now suing those companies to regain control of the accounts. They arealso asking for full details on the accounts from 2014, such as money earned, and any funds paid into or out of the accounts.

Astatement of defence has not yetbeen filed in court.

Winnipeg's Most,made upofPrefontaine, Jon-C (Billy Pierson) and Charlie Fettah (Tyler Rogers), made their debut in 2010and won a number of Aboriginal Peoples' Choice Music Awards that year, including for best new artist. They won six more awards in 2011 and werefeatured in Maclean's magazine.

Prefontainehad spent time in and out of jail and was wanted by Winnipeg police in the weeks before he died. At the time, police issued a news release sayingPrefontaine was aware they werelooking for him "and he is actively avoiding them."

In 2012,Winnipeg's Most purchased headstones to honour two women who had been killed.

At the time, Prefontaine told CBC News he had an auntie who had beenmurdered, and saidthe issue of missing and murdered Indigenouswomen hitclose to home for him.