Dr. Dre Loses ‘Chronic’ Battle In Court With Death Row

(AllHipHop News) Producer Dr. Dre was delivered a minor loss in court earlier this week, when a Los Angeles judge dismissed claims that the “new” Death Row Records illegally re-released his hit 1992 album The Chronic. Dr. Dre was one of the original owners of Death Row Records when the legendary label launched in 1992 with […]

(AllHipHop News) Producer Dr. Dre was delivered a minor loss in court earlier this week, when a Los Angeles judge dismissed claims that the “new” Death Row Records illegally re-released his hit 1992 album The Chronic. Dr. Dre was one of the original owners of Death Row Records when the legendary label launched in 1992 with Marion “Suge” Knight.After Dre’s departure in early 1996 to form Aftermath, the label continued into a spiral, starting with the September 1996 unsolved murder of Tupac Shakur. Knight eventually filed for bankruptcy when he lost a $107 million default judgment for refusing to show in court to answer claims that the label was funded by money provided by Michael “Harry-O” Harris and his wife Lydia. Death Row Records and the label’s assets were sold to Wideawake-Deathrow Entertainment in January of 2009.The label began re-releasing material from Death Row’s catalog, including The Chronic. Dr. Dre sued Wide-Awake/Death Row in February 2010, claiming they released the classic album without permission. Dre also claimed he had received no royalties from the sale of the record since he left Death Row in 1996. Reuters reports that a California court dismissed Dr. Dre’s allegations on Monday, based on a similar case in 1976, involving a comedy series by Monty Python.The judge ruled that the changes to Dr. Dre’s album The Chronic were minor, although they ruled in favor of Dr. Dre in regards to his fight to recover unpaid royalties from sales of the album.