Dr. Dre Wins ‘Chronic’ Lawsuit

By Ben Sisario
New York Times | Article Link

Dr. Dre has won a lawsuit against the owners of his former record label, Death Row, over the digital rights and royalties for his hit 1992 album “The Chronic.”

Dr. Dre, whose real name is Andre Young, founded Death Row with Suge Knight, and left the company in 1996. Death Row went into bankruptcy in 2006, and three years later the label’s assets were bought by WIDEawake Entertainment Group. In the suit, filed last year in United States District Court in Los Angeles, Dr. Dre contended that from 1996 until Death Row’s bankruptcy, “not a dime of royalties had been paid,” and that the label had been selling digital versions of “The Chronic” without permission.

In a ruling delivered on Tuesday, Judge Christina A. Snyder said that Death Row did not have the rights to distribute “The Chronic” online, and that Dr. Dre is entitled to damages over lost royalties from those sales.

In a statement, Dr. Dre’s lawyer, Howard King, praised the ruling and, intentionally or not, made a reference to a song (“Forgot About Dre”) that fans of Dr. Dre and Eminem might appreciate.

“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,” Mr. King said. “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.”