Grand Theft Auto 5 goes to court, rapper Daz Dilinger claims stolen music

With well over a billion dollars in the bank so far, it was inevitable that Rockstar Games would go to court for something related to Grand Theft Auto 5...

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With well over a billion dollars in the bank so far, it was inevitable that Rockstar Games would go to court for something related to Grand Theft Auto 5. Rapper Daz Dillinger says Rockstar Games used his music without paying him and has filed a cease and desist letter to the publisher.

The songs in question are "C-Walk" and "Nothin' But the Cavi Hit." Both are in the game's soundtrack, but neither are included in the soundtrack compilation sold on iTunes.

According to the C&D received by TMZ (via GI.biz), Dillinger was offered an "offensive" amount of $4271 for both songs. Dillinger demands that Rockstar make a better offer for the songs or recall and destroy all unsold copies of the game.

It seems unlikely that Rockstar didn't do the legal legwork required to acquire the rights for the game's soundtrack--although perhaps these songs slipped through the cracks? One issue conflating the story is that Dillinger isn't directly credited as the artist for either track. "C-Walk" comes from Kurupt, while "Nothin' But the Cavi Hit" features Mack 10, with Dillinger's Tha Dog Pound making a guest appearance. That song was published under the Priority Records label, owned by Universal Music Group. It's entirely possible that Rockstar signed a deal with the labels, and not the artists directly. However, more will undoubtedly surface in the coming weeks.

Andrew Yoon was previously a games journalist creating content at Shacknews.

From The Chatty
  • reply
    October 11, 2013 6:00 AM

    Andrew Yoon posted a new article, Grand Theft Auto 5 goes to court, rapper Daz Dilinger claims stolen music.

    With well over a billion dollars in the bank so far, it was inevitable that Rockstar Games would go to court for something related to Grand Theft Auto 5...

    • reply
      October 11, 2013 6:02 AM

      This guy.....

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      October 11, 2013 6:09 AM

      "It's entirely possible that Rockstar signed a deal with the labels, and not the artists directly."

      Isn't this how it's always done? I would assume you rarely deal with artists individually unless they're not on a label.

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        October 11, 2013 6:17 AM

        Not necessarily: every contract can be unique in terms of what labels and artists agree each of them can or can't do

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          October 11, 2013 6:18 AM

          I mean, I assumed it can. I just figured for business purposes, you'd be much more likely to approach a label and say "We'd like to use artists X, Y and Z" in our new game, rather than individually approaching them.

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      October 11, 2013 9:21 AM

      A great way to get a little free press on the coat tails of what will most likely be the largest release of the year...

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      October 11, 2013 11:46 AM

      You'd think if they were going to steal music that they'd at least still GOOD music. (probably my biggest disappointment with the game so far)

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        October 11, 2013 1:02 PM

        I wasn't that keen on the soundtrack at first but it's grown on me, i'd say it's in my top 3 of gta soundtracks, it's great.

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          October 11, 2013 1:03 PM

          It's between Vice City and San Andreas for first and second and then GTA 5 i think, though it's not far behind, in my opinion of course.

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            October 11, 2013 1:06 PM

            I think San Andreas had the best one.

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        October 11, 2013 1:06 PM

        I haven't particularly liked the sound track either.

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