Dr. Dre Settles Lawsuit Over DVD

Monday, January 12, 2004
By: brooklyniteOne

Local Detroiters Reach Settlements for Having Their Images Stolen And Sold in Dr. Dre Gangster Rap DVD 'Nobody - not even the rich and powerful - has the right to exploit people,' says Glenn Douglas Oliver, lawyer for the victims of illegal act. Victims and their families pleased to reach accord with retail giants Harmony House Records and Tapes, Inc., BeMusic/CDNow, Hastings Entertainment, Inc.

Five local Detroiters have reached an amicable agreement to drop their lawsuit against several national retail giants for their part in selling secretly-recorded video footage in a gangster rap DVD produced by representatives of notorious rapper Andre Young a.k.a. Dr.Dre in the summer of 2000.

Nobody deserves to have their private conversation illegally videotaped and sold around the world for the commercial benefit of one individual or company without their permission," said noted intellectual property and civil litigation attorney Glenn Douglas Oliver. "Secretly videotape a private
conversation with gangster rapper Dr. Dre, one of the defendants in this case and put it in a gangster rap music video without his permission and see how quickly he sues you. Just because people aren't rich, powerful and internationally famous, doesn't mean they should be exploited by those that are."

Co-counsel David K. Tillman of Detroit-based Tillman & Tillman agreed. "We are happy honorable companies such as Harmony House, BeMusic and Hastings Entertainment were willing to amicably resolve this matter. And although the holidays have just passed, we encourage people to remember good
companies such as these when making their shopping decisions throughout the year."

Terms of the settlement were not released. Local Detroiters Gregory Bowens, Paula Bridges, Gary Brown, Robert Dunlap and Phil Talbert filed federal and state lawsuits that are still pending against the notorious gangster rapper and his Detroit-based law firm Honigman-Miller for their
respective parts in the illegal acquiring and commercial exploitation of the victims' private conversations and their likenesses. All but one of the remaining defendants is represented by another defendant in the case -- Honigman Miller. The federal case is scheduled for trial in October while the state case winds its way through the state court appeals system.

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