Musicmaker.Com Ceases Selling Tracks From Dr. Dre's "The Chronic"

Custom compilation CD retailer Musicmaker.com has stopped selling fifteen tracks from rapper Dr. Dre's triple-platinum debut "The Chronic," claiming that the removal of the music is temporary until a licensing dispute between the rapper and his former label Death Row Records is resolved.

Musicmaker.com began offering the Dre tracks three weeks ago as part of a three-year distribution deal to sell the music of over two dozen Death Row artists on mail-order CDs. Dr. Dre's attorney Howard King protested, claiming that Dre's 1996 settlement contract with his former label only permits Death Row to issue the material "in the same configuration and format as it was previously released."

In response, Death Row attorneys claim that under his final settlement with Death Row, Dre gave up all rights to the material, and Musicmaker.com does not have to obtain an additional license from him.

King said that after he sent Musicmaker.com a cease-and-desist letter on March 16, the Reston, VA company requested further documentation from him, then removed the tracks two days later.

Bill Crowley, Musicmaker.com's senior vice president of sales and marketing, refused to comment on the merits of Dre's claim, stating that the tracks would be restored once Dre withdraws his claim.

But King stated that he had no intention of withdrawing the claim, and he doubted that any resolution would be reached, given "the complexities of the relationship between Dr. Dre and Death Row." That makes it unlikely that the tracks will appear again on Musicmaker.com without further legal action on the part of Death Row.