Dr. Dre. (Creative Commons via Ed Kavishe) / Marjorie Taylor Greene. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin) / Stock Photo.
Attorneys for Dr. Dre sent a cease-and-desist letter to Republican Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene after she used one of his famous songs in a video she posted to social media without his permission.
“You are wrongfully exploiting this work through the various social media outlets to promote your divisive and hateful political agenda,” the letter states. “Mr. Young has not, and will never, grant you permission to broadcast or disseminate any of his music.”
“One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country. 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,” the letter continues. “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.”
“I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one,” Dre reiterated in a statement to TMZ.
Known for her often controversial and far-right stances, the Georgia lawmaker uploaded a promotional video of herself flexing in the halls of Congress on Monday, Jan. 9. It had the instrumental to Dre’s iconic hit “Still D.R.E” playing in the background throughout the video.
Dre’s team also reached out to Twitter to get the video removed, an action that Green said resulted in her getting locked out of her Twitter account.
Twitter did remove the video for copyright violation, but the tweet itself is still posted. It reads, “It’s time to begin.. and they can’t stop what’s coming.”
Some social media users found the irony of Green’s words in the tweet in comparison to the outcome of the situation hilarious.
“My money’s on Dr. Dre’s lawyers stopping you from infringing on his copyright,” Chip Goines responded, then added, ‘pay up, mtg.” when the video was taken down.
Several others simply responded with messages saying, “apparently they can” and “appears to be stopped, marj.”
Green released a statement through a spokesperson in response to Dr. Dre. “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,” she said.
PHOTOS:
Dr. Dre backstage at Pussycat Dolls in Los Angeles, (Creative Commons via Ed Kavishe)
Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., speaks to reporters after the House adjourned for the night, Wednesday, Jan. 4, 2023, on Capitol Hill in Washington. (AP Photo/Jacquelyn Martin)
Cease and desist by Nick Youngson CC BY-SA 3.0 Pix4free
