News of September 26, 2013
Afeni Shakur Sues Entertainment One: Dispute over Royalties and Master Tapes
More than $1.1 million and unreleased master recordings: Tupac's estate takes Entertainment One to Los Angeles Superior Court.
A dispute over tapes and sums in the millions: On September 25, 2013, Afeni Shakur, as co-administrator of Tupac’s estate, filed a lawsuit against Entertainment One in Los Angeles Superior Court. As Billboard reported the following day, the company had reportedly acquired the catalog of Death Row Records that same year. The estate demands more than $1.1 million in royalties as well as the surrender of master recordings containing unreleased Tupac material.
No Royalties for Beginnings
Complex and AllHipHop cite the 2007 album Beginnings: The Lost Tapes 1988-1991 as the trigger, for which no royalties were reportedly paid. The lawsuit follows earlier litigation in federal court.
Physically in the Archive, Legally with the Estate
The basis is a 1997 settlement with Death Row and distributor Interscope: under it, the estate owns the unreleased masters; Death Row received material for one album and was to give the estate a share in future exploitation. Although Death Row kept physical possession of the material, it had no ownership rights to it, the complaint states. These are the plaintiff’s allegations; no ruling had been reached at the time of reporting. See also legal cases.