Ashanti Files Lawsuit  2/1/06

R&B star Ashanti is suing a string of international music executives in a bid to keep demos she recorded in the mid-1990s out of record stores.

The singer has filed a federal lawsuit in New York over the unauthorized release of her early recordings.

She names the bosses of labels in Georgia, Germany, England, Australia and Japan as defendants.

In the suit, Ashanti claims she recorded demos in a bid to land a major-label deal when she was 16-years-old. She insists she never intended for the tracks to be released as an album.

She launched the suit after learning of the existence of a compilation album, called Can't Stop, which appeared in stores in 2005.

The album featured her name and recent photographs of her on the cover. On two of the tracks she only sings background vocals, while on another she is not performing at all.

Ashanti alleges invasion of privacy, unfair competition and trademark-related claims for releasing the demos without her permission.

She is demanding an injunction, damages to compensate for lost profits and harm to her reputation, and punitive damages in excess of $1 million.