Universal Records has lost a round in court with former producers F.B.T. Productions for Platinum selling rapper Eminem.
According to reports by The Associated Press, F.B.T. Productions contract allows Eminem and his producers a 50-50 split with Universal for digitally released products. Universal originally paid Eminem and producers 12 percent of the sales of physical releases and attempted to treat digital releases the same way. F.B.T. has successfully claimed that their deal with Universal should be considered a licensing deal, which entitles them to a higher royalty rate. The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals refused to hear Universals appeal of a previous decision in favor of F.B.T.
Dr. Dre also won his battle in court.
A lawsuit involving rapper/producer Dr. Dre and other Detroit officials has been dismissed from court.
According to reports, City Councilman Gary Brown and a variety of officials filed the lawsuit in 2000, over an explicit video that was played during the tour. Officials in Detroit threatened to turn the power off if the video was played. The backstage conversation over the issue was taped and featured on the “Up In Smoke DVD.” Brown claimed that his rights were violated after Dre and company released the footage for commercial use. Councilman Brown’s lawsuit originally asked for $3 billion dollars. Dre had previously won a ruling, which forced then-Detroit Mayor, Dennis Archer, to write an apology letter to Dre.
