Dr. Dre earns all rights to his smash-hit debut record, sold in illegal ways by Death row for years
For the past year Dr. Dre‘s team has been battling Death Row Records over unpaid profits for his debut album, The Chronic. While last year they lost a very big case against the record company, as of today Dre has received an equally large win, being able to receive all the profits from his career-launching work in the Hip Hop world.
Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder ruled in favor of Dre claiming he has made far less off of the record than he is entitled, specifically in online sales that WIDEAwake Death Row was responsible for.
Dre’s attorney, Howard King, told the Associated Press that WideAwake (The company who bought Death Row out of bankruptcy last year) was improperly selling The Chronic and making digital compilations without permission from Dre. While this new ruling does not halt Death Row from making digital sales, it does make sure that Dre earns 100% of his entitled profits.
King wrote in a statement:
For years, Death Row Records forgot about Dre when they continued to distribute his music digitally and combined his hits with weaker Death Row tracks in an attempt to elevate the stature of their other artists. We are gratified that the federal court has unambiguously declared that Death Row has no right to engage in such tactics, and must hold all proceeds from these illicit distributions in trust for our client.”
The rapper has been battling Death Row Records in lawsuits for a number of years now, a label he co-founded and left later on.
-Curt Cramer (@CurtCramer)
