Dr Dre Suing Death Row

Rapper/Producer Dr Dre has reportedly filed suit against Death Row Records. The suit claims that since he left the label in 1996 he has not been paid royalties for his 1992 album, The Chronic. He also claimed that the 2009 reissue, The Chronic: Re-Lit, was released without his consent. 


In the suit, Dre claims that his lawyers notified the new owners of the label, WIDEawake, about not being paid the royalties and they have yet to pay him. 


Howard King, Dr Dre's (real name Andre Young) lawyer, said in a statement,  "When it comes to paying artist royalties and honoring limits on Dr Dre recordings that could be released, the "new" Death Row Records, to quote out client, 'forgot about Dre'. This lawsuit will make sure they remember." 


Dr Dre is suing for at least $75,000.  


Deathrow Records/WIDEawake Entertainment has yet to release a statement. 

Things From Around The Web...........

Here's a few things in the news that may have been overlooked lately....



An Anti-Piracy group were fined recently for bad faith actions --- It is nice to see that in some countries there is still a voice of reason. (techdirt)



A couple gets arrested in Pennsylvania.... for not tipping? (telegraph)



Butchered Man Used For ..... (sun)



Mickey v. Donald.... no, really... Mickey Mouse is suing Donald Duck (thr)



And finally for now.....



Imagine finding out your school principal was caught out there drunk in a dress... (smokinggun)

Stories That May Have Been Missed...

So much information...so little time...here's what's been happening...

After negotiating for what now seems like forever there is still no royalty deal for streaming music online.... NO DEAL

Global Gathering has announced its headliners... UK

Angry Pilot Exposes... himself

Samsung apparently announces a "DJ" phone that does not appear to do "dj" things.... beatportal

Ticketmaster Shareholders sue.... Ticketmaster/Live Nation Merger

Lawsuit: Manu Dibango

Cameroonian singer Manu Dibango filed a lawsuit in Paris against Pop artists Rihanna and Michael Jackson over a hook from his 1972 song, "Soul Makossa", being sampled without his permission. He is reportedly seeking 500,000 euros (approx. 641,000USD) in damages.


Jackson had accepted that the parts of the track were used on his "Wanna Be Starting Something" from the "Thriller" album and the singers reached a financial aggreement.


However, Rihanna obtained permission in 2007 to use on her hit single, "Don't Stop The Music", without contacting the original artist.


Dibango's lawyers have seperately asked the French courts to block labels, EMI, Warner, and SonyBMG (now Sony Music Entertainment) from recieving any income from the records until the matter is settled.


French judges are to decide if the 75-year-old Dibango's case will be heard on Feb 17.

MP3tunes vs EMI part 2

A short while ago I posted a small story on the battle between Mp3tunes and EMI (story here in case you missed it).

Recently Michael Robertson
, CEO of Mp3tunes sent out an open letter to Doug Merrill, EMI's President of Digital Strategy.

In the letter, Robertson asks Merrill to re-examine EMI's actions regarding its strategy, motives, and rethink suing his company.

With all of the free music EMI themselves put out....will Doug respond?

Read the full letter here at: Mi2N

UMG vs. EFF

In May 2007 Universal Music Group sued a Los Angeles-based trader on eBay. Troy Augusto, who runs the business called "Roast Beast Music Collectibles", makes a living selling rare albums he bought at second-hand record stores.

UMG is suing Augusto for copyright infringement. They are saying that some of the items he offered for sale online were promotional copies and were not authorized for sale to the public.

Electronic Frontier Foundation (EFF), a digital rights lobby group, is taking on the case on Augusto's behalf and is counter-suing Universal.

In regards to promotional copies, for quite some time record companies have maintained that they own these items and may ask for them to be returned at any time.

Due to the promo items that were contained in the eBay auctions from Mr Augusto, this is the argument that is close to being tested in court.

UMG's lawyers allege "Augusto's unauthorized distribution of the UMG promo CDs violated UMG's exclusive right to distribute its copyrighted works" in legal documents filed in the US District Court for the Central District of California.

This is a battle that will possibly shake things up for a bit.

DJ Casper Suing Over Copyright And Publishing Rights

DJ Casper, the creator of the song "Cha Cha Slide," has filed a lawsuit against several parties.

According to the lawsuit filed December 31, he entered into an exclusive licensing agreement with M.O.B. Records in 2000. Songwriter Jerome Haywood has been named in the suit as the man who helped Casper fill out the copyright forms for the song. He feels that both Haywood and M.O.B. has cheated him out of royalties by taking the copyright and licensing for themselves and designating his composition as a “work for hire” project.

Casper goes on in the lawsuit stating that "royalties were never paid and [the] Plaintiff (DJ Casper) never received any accounting statements despite demands, and even as the song became very popular and, on information and belief, Defendant M.O.B. sold over 500,000 copies.”

He also believes that the parties obtained their own copyrights in order to take complete ownership of the hit 2003 record.

In 2007, the song was prominently used by McDonalds for a national Happy Meal commercial. It reached No. 1 on Billboard’s U.S. and UK charts.

MP3Tunes vs EMI

MP3Tunes has submitted a legal response to a lawsuit filed against them by EMI for offering personal music lockers and the sideload.com music search engine.

EMI is saying that this lawsuit is about piracy. MP3Tunes has filed counter claims against EMI "for engaging in unfair, unlawful and deceptive business practices to further their own business interests."

MP3Tunes is requesting our help in their fight. For more information--- MP3Tunes/EMI

McCain Lawyers Seek Dismissal

In a previous article I mentioned how there were many artists upset with the use of their music by the Republican Party. (here)

Well, lawyers for the McCain campaign are stating that they had nothing to do with a 120-second-long commercial that had a snippet of "Running on Empty" by Jackson Browne and that it was the ones at fault are the Republican Party of Ohio.

It is also being stated in documents in response to Mr. Browne that the usage was fair because it was not being used for profit but as part of politics..... TMZ has the docs..... (here)

Hall and Oates Sue Publisher

Daryl Hall and John Oates are suing their music publisher. They say their song ‘Maneater’ was used without their permission, and that the publisher refused to protect their publishing agreement.

The suit, which was filed in Manhattan, says that a singer-songwriter used the song in 2006, and when they asked their publisher Warner/Chappell to sue for copyright infringement, the company refused.

Hall and Oates are now are seeking damages from Warner/Chappell and want to end their contract with the company.

Warner/Chappell spokeswoman Amanda Collins said Thursday the lawsuit was "completely without merit." She added, "We will defend ourselves vigorously."

Recording Industry vs. The People

This is a really important read for all of those who need to know what's up with the RIAA lawsuits.

Link here:
Recording Industry vs. The People

I Have Decided To Sue Everyone Suddenly

Blues singer (and father of R&B singer Syleena Johnson) Syl Johnson reportedly in January of this year was suing Michael Jackson, Will Smith, Tupac Shakur and KRS-One – claiming they stole his 1967 single "Different Strokes" without attributing him or paying for the sample.

Well, now he is suing someone else - rap group Cypress Hill. He claims the group sampled his 1969 record "Is It Because I'm Black?" on a track from their 1993 album "Black Sunday" titled "Lock Down (Interlude)." Along with the also recent honorees of VH1's Hip Hop Honors, he is suing a number of record and publishing companies for the brief soundbyte as well.


Why all of a sudden?

Bon Jovi Sued

A musician has filed a lawsuit against the band Bon Jovi accusing them of plagiarism.

Court documents state that Massachusetts-based musician Samuel Bartley Steele alleges the group copied lyrics from his 2004 song "(Man I Really) Love This Team," used as the anthem for
his hometown's baseball team, The Red Sox. He also alleges the group's front man Jon Bon Jovi heard the song while campaigning for Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004, and used its lyrics to create his hit song "I Love This Town," a song later used as a promotional track for Major League Baseball.

Steele calls the rocker's composition an "unauthorized derivative
version" of his song in the federal suit adding, "As intent will be easy to prove, we are seeking the statutorily authorized amount of $100,000 per CD sold. Just under 4 million CDs have been sold to date. This totals almost $400 billion."

President Signs PRO IP Act Into Law

Publishers and songwriters have applauded the President for signing into law S. 3325, the Prioritizing Resources and Organization for Intellectual Property Act (PRO-IP Act) of 2008.

This law will ensure America's intellectual property rights are better enforced on a global scale. Also,convicted counterfeiters will now be subject to increased fines and the forfeiture of their property.

The White House yesterday released a statement which reads in part, "In recent years, counterfeiting has grown rapidly. Counterfeiting costs America hundreds of billions of dollars a year and has harmful effects throughout the economy. Fake products can expose consumers to serious health and safety risks. Government loses out on tax revenues and is forced to divert law enforcement resources. Terrorist networks use counterfeit sales to finance their operations."

The size of government just got bigger, with the creation of one more office.The new law will create the office of the Intellectual Property Enforcement Coordinator (IPEC). Despite its' name it is noted that the office "will be explicitly separated from responsibility for or direction of any law enforcement agency that carries out IP law", according to the law's final language.

The White House's statement did not give mention of the IPEC office, which may mean that it could remain vacant in the final months of the Bush Administration.

For further reading on the topic please go to:

President signs controversial IP enforcement act into law

Bush signs RIAA-backed intellectual-property law

Remix: Making Art and Commerce Thrive in the Hybrid Economy

"Remix...." is a new book by Lawrence Lessig examining the art of remixing and the laws that we have harm creativity. It has now been released and is being sold through stores such as Amazon and Barnes and Noble. It will soon be released under a Creative Commons license from Bloomsbury Academic.



From the product description :
The author of Free Culture shows how we harm our children—and almost anyone who creates, enjoys, or sells any art form—with a restrictive copyright system driven by corporate interests. Lessig reveals the solutions to this impasse offered by a collaborative yet profitable “hybrid economy”.



Lawrence Lessig is a Professor of Law at Stanford Law School and founder of the School’s Center for Internet and Society. Professor Lessig is the author of Code v2, Free Culture, The Future of Ideas and Code and Other Laws of Cyberspace, and has been a columnist for Wired, Red Herring, and the Industry Standard.

Click here for a link to the website: REMIX

Funny how the Democrats aren't having this problem...

....or perhaps they have and nobody has mentioned it....here is a list of some of the artists and the songs in question where the Republicans have been asked "Do Not Use My Song!"

1- Bruce Springsteen- "Born In The USA" - I read once that Ronald Regan didn't even know what the song was truly about.

2- Boston- " More Than A Feeling" Mike Huckabee used this one to cap off his events many times. The writer of the song Tom Scholz wrote the campaign a letter asking for the song to not be used. He believed that the use of the song showed he endorsed Huckabee when he already gave his endorsement to Barack Obama.

3- John Mellencamp- "Pink Houses" and "Our Country" Mr. Mellencamp is a Democrat. He endorsed John Edwards by giving him permission to use his songs. Days later of a "cease-and-desist" was issued. The McCain camp pulled the songs off of the playlist.

4- Orleans - "Still The One" John Hall, a co-writer on the song (also a Democratic Congressman) had sent a cease-and -desist letter twice on this song....(Bush in 2004 and more recently McCain)

5- Van Halen- "Right Now" The brothers Van Halen sent out a letter stating that there wasn't any permission nor would there have been in use of the song. Sammy Hagar stated that he thought it was ok for the use but does not necessarily endorse McCain.

6- Jackson Browne- "Running On Empty" McCain used this song for an ad against Obama's gas-related statements. Mr. Browne (a lifelong democrat) has filed a lawsuit against Sen. McCain and the Republican Party. The lawsuit is still pending at this time.

7- Heart - "Barracuda" Sarah Palin has used that track based on a high school nickname....well, Nancy Wilson sent a cease-and-desist letter to the Republican party. Mrs. Wilson feels that Sarah Palin does not represent the "views and values" of American women. At this time the song is still being used at rallies.

8- Gretchen Peters " Independence Day" This is a track recorded by Martina McBride about an abused woman. Peters has vehemently gone again the McCain/Palin campaign for using this song and taking the song out of context (especially due to the irony of Palin's beliefs).

9- Foo Fighters- "My Hero" Dave Grohl is an Obama supporter. The song is written as celebration of the common man and his potential. Dave Grohl has condemned McCain's use of the song citing how "frustrating and infuriating" that this man who speaks for Americans "would repeatedly show such little respect" for intellectual property and the creativity of these artists.