Dr. Dre has succeeded in blocking Republican congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene from using his music in any context having to do with her political career.
According to Billboard, Greene’s attorneys have formally acknowledged a cease and desist letter sent by Dre’s lawyers on Monday (January 9). The response was submitted prior to the 5:00 p.m. deadline on Wednesday (January 11) and stopped short of admitting any wrongdoing on the Georgia lawmaker’s part.
“We are in receipt of your correspondence of January 9, 2023,” the letter read. “On behalf of Congresswoman Greene, please be advised that no further use of Mr. Young’s copyright will be made by a political committee or via social media outlet she controls.”
The lawyers added that their response should not be seen as “an admission of any fact or waiver of any rights or defenses” — a statement that would come in handy in Marjorie Taylor Greene’s defense in the event that Dr. Dre still decides to move forward with a lawsuit.
In the scathing original cease and desist letter, Dre’s lawyer Howard E. King admonished Greene for failing to follow laws laid out by the U.S. Constitution, after the controversial lawmaker shared a video via Twitter on Monday that saw her walking through Congress as Dr. Dre’s 1999 hit played in the background.
Once he caught wind of the post, the multi-platinum artist told TMZ that his music had been used without his prior consent, saying: “I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one.”
King’s letter reiterated Dr. Dre’s disapproval and accused Marjorie Taylor Greene of “wrongfully exploiting [‘Still D.R.E.’] through the various social media outlets to promote [her] divisive and hateful political agenda.”
“The United States Copyright Act says a lot of things, but 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.”
Minutes after Greene’s video was posted, Dr. Dre’s team was able to have the post disabled by Twitter.
Marjorie Taylor Greene’s initial reaction to Aftermath boss taking issue with her use of his music was much more irreverent than the official letter sent by her attorneys.
“While I appreciate the creative chord progression,” she wrote in a statement to TMZ, which she shared on Twitter. “I would never play your words of violence against women and police officers, and your glorification of the thug life and drugs.”
Marjorie Taylor Greene gained national attention in 2021 after Democrats in the House of Representatives demanded that she be removed from Congress over a number of controversial statements made on Facebook between 2018 and 2019.
The move came after a CNN investigation uncovered a number of posts in which Greene advocated for the execution of several prominent Democrats. The Georgia congresswoman, who was elected to the House in 2020, also made a number of antisemitic and anti-Catholic statements, as well as posts supporting the idea that the 2018 shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida had been staged.
While she remains a Congressional representative for the state of Georgia, House Democrats were able to have Marjorie Taylor Green stripped of all of her legislative committee assignments.
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