Friday, January 19, 2007

DJ Drama & Producer Timberland in DRM Mess

A popular mixtape artist DJ Drama has been cuffed and jailed for allegedly violating copyrights. The RIAA, upset over his "Gangsta Grillz" releases, tipped off the police to the situation. More than 80k CD were confiscated, along with vehicles and his recording gear.

DJ Drama makes mix tapes of other rappers and is generally viewed positively by those who participate in his projects. However, the record companies by whom the songs are recorded are usually not consulted upon the release - most don't care due to the high level of publicity afforded by the mix tapes.

On the other side of the world, high-profile producer Timberland has been accused of violating the copyright of a Finnish demo used in Nelly Furtado's song "Do It." The song, "Acidjazzed Evening," has been freely distributed up to this point - but the owner has never actually given up his rights to the song. The owner has enlisted the help of a law firm but has given no details about what his plans are.

(via arstechnica)

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