Dr. Dre accused Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday of copyright infringement after she used the instrumental of his song “Still D.R.E.” in a video shared on Twitter.
The nearly two-minute clip was removed from Twitter after the rapper/producer accused the Georgia rep of copyright infringement. When asked to comment, Dre said, “I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one”.
Later in the day, TMZ released a cease-and-desist letter sent by Howard King, Dre’s attorney, that read: “The use of ‘Still D.R.E.’ without permission constitutes copyright infringement,” followed by the citation of a specific passage in the copyright code. “One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of this country,” King added.
Greene’s self-promotional video immediately became the subject of derision when she posted it earlier Monday morning, with the political website Mediaite calling it “bizarre” and saying it “left many scratching their heads.” The video starts with slow-motion video of her triumphantly walking through the halls of Congress as the familiar opening chords of the D.R.E./Snoop Dogg classic kick in. The video eventually includes shots taken on the House floor of Greene appearing to text with “DT” — aka Donald Trump — in her attempts to influence Republican holdouts who were refusing to vote for McCarthy as a four-day stalemate continued.
“It’s time to begin.. and they can’t stop what’s coming,” Greene posted as the caption to the D.R.E.-soundtracked video montage.
“Still D.R.E.,” one of the most famous hip-hop songs of all time, was originally released in 1999 and returned to the Billboard Hot 100 in 2022 after it was used in the Super Bowl halftime show.
In his letter to Greene, attorney King — of the firm King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano — wrote, “It’s possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to have really spent much time on. We’re writing because we think an actual lawmaker should be making laws, not breaking laws, especially those embodied in the constitution by the founding fathers.”
King concludes the message to the congresswoman by asking for “written confirmation that you have complied with these demands” by 5 p.m. on Wednesday.
About Author
