Dr. Dre Threatens Marjorie Taylor Greene With Lawsuit Over Using ‘Still D.R.E.’ In Video
On Monday (January 9), Dr. Dre’s attorneys reportedly sent a cease-and-desist letter to Georgia Republican Representative Marjorie Taylor Greene, threatening her with legal action after she used the hip-hop legend’s “Still D.R.E.” in a social media post without permission.
Hours prior to the served legal paperwork, the Compton native slammed Greene over the post, saying he’d never license his song to someone so “divisive and hateful.”
Dre’s lawyers informed Greene in the letter that her post constituted copyright infringement and that she had until Wednesday to remove it.
“You are wrongfully exploiting his work through the various social media outlets to promote your divisive and hateful political agenda,” attorney Howard King wrote in a copy of the letter that surfaced on social media.
Posted Monday morning, the video in question features Greene strutting through the halls of Congress in slow motion with Dre’s 1999 hit single repeating on a loop in the background.
“The United States Copyright Act says a lot of things, one of the things it says is that you can’t use someone else’s song for your political campaign promotions unless you get permission from the owner of the copyright in the song, a step you failed to take,” King wrote.
Additionally, the letter notes how Greene’s political team should know not to use music in any sort of advertisement without permission. “One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country,” King added. “It’s possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to really have 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.”
In a statement to TMZ, Greene’s office said, “While I appreciate the creative chord progression, I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs.”