Tales of young men from inner-city, single-parent families who get caught up in crime are so common as to be not copyrightable, a federal judge in Newark said Tuesday in dismissing an infringement suit against recording artist 50 Cent.

Shadrach Winstead of Newark claimed that his autobiography provided much of the dialogue and plot for a CD and DVD set, “Before I Self-Destruct,” produced in 2009 by 50 Cent, also known as Curtis Jackson.