Lil Wayne, Birdman hit with copyright suit

New York — A Florida man wants rappers Lil Wayne and Birdman to show him respect — for using his voice in an album track called just that.

Thomas Marasciullo filed a copyright infringement lawsuit Friday in a Manhattan federal court against the rappers, their record label and various music distribution outlets.

The lawsuit said Cash Money Records had him cut some “‘Italian-styled’ spoken word recordings” in 2006, then used them without pay or permission on “Respect” and other tracks from the rappers’ joint 2006 album “Like Father, Like Son” and Birdman’s 2007 “5 (Star) Stunna.”

The gold-selling “Like Father, Like Son” hit the top of the R&B/hip-hop album chart. Several short tracks that Marasciullo says he wrote, recorded and copyrighted — including “Loyalty” and “Respect” — feature a man’s voice delivering mob-movie-flavored repartee.

Among the remarks, from “Loyalty”: “The main name in this game is respect and loyalty. Family is a big thing. When we do this kind of business, everything is with respect.”

Hawke praises Madonna for Gypsy support

Bucharest, Romania — Actor Ethan Hawke on Saturday praised Madonna for her boldness in speaking out against discrimination against Gypsies, words that provoked boos from thousands of fans at her concert in Romania.

Hawke, visiting Romania to help promote his mother’s charity supporting education for Gypsy children, placed the pop superstar alongside Bob Marley and John Lennon as part of a tradition of artists speaking out against racism.

“She transcended being a pop star,” he told reporters. “She drew international attention and shone the spotlight on a level of racism and the need for greater education.”

At an August concert in Bucharest on her “Sticky & Sweet” tour, Madonna called for an end to widespread discrimination against Eastern Europe’s Gypsies, also known as Roma. Thousands of fans responded by booing her.