Rapper Pitbull’s trademark EEEEYO! is now…trademarked

Rapper and record producer Pitbull performing live (Getty Images)

Armando Christian Pérez – best known by his stage name Pitbull – has trademarked his signature yell. The award-winning rapper joins less than 40 sounds that have previously qualified for copyright protection.

The latin rapper’s distinct cry of EEEEEEEYOOOOOO features in several of his biggest hits, and his legal team says that it is the first call sign to be trademarked by a music artist.

“There is a very small sliver of trademarks having to do with sound identification marks. Copyright generally applies to music with respect to sound recordings and music publishing. This is different. This is a signature yell,” said Leslie José Zigel, Pitbull’s general counsel.

Read more at BandLab’s NME.