Dr. Dre may have lost a lawsuit against Death Row Records last year, but he’s since emerged the victor by regaining 100 percent of the proceeds from online sales for his classic debut, The Chronic.
According to HipHopDX, a federal judge ruled in favor of the prestigious Apple employee (real name Andre Young), that WIDEawake Death Row Records holds no ownership rights to the digital sales of the album and U.S. District Judge Christina Snyder felt like it was time for the injustice to end.
Feeling vindicated, Dre’s attorney Howard King released a statement through the Associated Press which read, “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,” King wrote in a statement. “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.”
King also clarified the ruling saying that The Chronic will still be available other digital retailers but Death Row Records won’t be seeing nada from this point on.
Dre helped co-found Death Row Records in the early 90s alongside Suge Knight but left in 1996 due to constant turmoil outside the music.