Pitbull has locked up a win over Lindsay Lohan.
The actress' lawsuit against the Cuban-American rapper, Ne-Yo and Afrojack over their smash-hit 2011 song "Give Me Everything" -- in which Pitbull raps once, "I've got it locked up like Lindsay Lohan" -- was dismissed Thursday by a federal judge, who ruled the tune's lyrics are protected by the First Amendment, which covers freedom of speech and creative expression.
"This will further solidify the rights of artists to express themselves in song," Pitbull's attorney, Marcos Jimenez, told E! News Thursday, noting that his client "wasn't shocked," but "disappointed" when Lohan first sued in August 2011.
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Pitbull "is very pleased," Jimenez added. "He felt it was very important to address this head on to protect his right and the rights of other artist. He decided to fight this."
In response to a request from Jimenez filed last March, Senior District Judge Denis R. Hurley also fined Lohan's attorney $1,500 for sanctionable plagiarism and false representation. Pitbull's camp had argued that lawyer Stephanie Ovadia had cribbed portions of her opposition to the rapper's motion to dismiss the case from online legal sources and newspaper articles.
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Lohan filed suit against Pitbull, Ne-Yo, Afrojack, J Records, Sony Music Entertainment, RCA Music Group, Polo Grounds Music and related parties nearly a year and a half ago, both objecting to the negative connotation of the "locked up like Lindsay Lohan" line and claiming that she should have been compensated for the use of her name in the song.
--Reporting by Claudia Rosenbaum
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