Dr. Dre’s $3 Million Lawsuit Against Death Row Has Been Dismissed
Dr. Dre filed a lawsuit against his former label, Death Row Records, for $3.05 million in unpaid royalties earlier this year, and now a judge has dismissed his claim. The rap producer and self-proclaimed billionaire, as of last week’s reported deal between his company Beats and Apple, was seeking money the label brought in during a period of bankruptcy, TMZ reports, and wanted it before Death Row’s other creditors. Now he will reportedly receive nothing.
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Dre was seeking over $676,000 in unpaid mechanical royalties (the license to sell the literal recording of a song), over $1.2 million for unpaid artist and producer royalties and close to $1.2 million for digital sales. A judge had suggested the last amount in 2010 after Dre lost a trademark infringement suit, according to Radar Online. The rapper claimed that the amount of the money he was asking for reflected a bump in royalties from 18 percent to 20.
Last week, Apple reportedly purchased Beats for an estimated $3.2 billion. A video posted by Dre’s friend, actor and singer Tyrese, showed the rapper bragging that he was the “first billionaire in hip-hop” (though a rep for Forbes has disputed that claim). Currently, Dre ranks Number Two on Forbes‘ list of the wealthiest rap artists; Puff Daddy leads the list with a net worth of $700 million. “The Forbes list just changed,” Tyrese said in his video. Dre added, “In a big way.”
In 2012, Dre led Forbes‘ list of the top earning musicians overall, having earned $110 million that year.