Rapper Outrage: GTA V Stole My Beats, Cease And Desist

[Dr.Awkward]

I have nothing to really add to this, except:

[a="/news/view/128605-Rapper-Outrage-GTA-V-Stole-My-Beats-Cease-
Source: TMZ[/a]

Be careful with your sources. TMZ is just as much as a tabloid as The National Enquirer is, and you know how much sensationalism and yellow journalism these editorials like to put in their articles.

 

[Hagi]

This story is lacking crucial context, i.e. how much the other artists got paid for their songs.

It doesn't matter how much the other artists got paid for their songs.

You either have a licensing deal or you don't. How much you paid for it is utterly irrelevant.

If Rockstar doesn't have a license to use his music they'd be in the wrong even if they offered a billion but got rejected.
If Rockstar does have a license to use his music they'd be in the right even if they offered a single cent and got accepted.

 

[Irridium]

If this is true, come on Rockstar. GTAV made you a billion dollars. Give the man some damn money.

 

[CpT_x_Killsteal]

Rockstar is probably going to respond soon with "But you accepted the deal, we have it in paper". Only a matter of time I reckon.

 

[nexus]

I don't believe this at all, Rockstar wouldn't let this happen.

What is more likely is that the musician is about to find out he doesn't even own the song, and the record label he did business with owns all rights to it.

 

[MrBaskerville]

So by the look of this thread, rappers have no right to complain if people steal their music, because rap sucks anyway and Rockstar can basically do whatever they want because they are Rockstar?

Not sure i can agree on this, if he said no and they took it anyway, i'm totally on his side. But if everything went by the book, he doesn't have much of a case.

 

[Covarr]

More than likely this guy has no legal ownership of the songs, R* probably got the license from the record label that does. If that's the case, this guy has no leg to stand on, and is just crying for cash. I'm sure it'll all come out eventually, but this looks like an attention grab.

I don't believe this at all, Rockstar wouldn't let this happen.

What is more likely is that the musician is about to find out he doesn't even own the song, and the record label he did business with owns all rights to it.

This was my first thought. Rockstar isn't stupid, they wouldn't include a song after being explicitly rejected without finding some way to do so legally.

P.S. Thanks

 

[Quantum Glass]

Odds are this will be settled out of court, with Rockstar handing him a disproportionately large wad of cash. And I doubt there will be any hard feelings.

If this guy is right, then Rockstar screwed up somehow. It probably wasn't intentional. They run a business, which means that, in cases where they don't have a leg to stand on, they'll own up to it and pay the fine, so to speak, before making sure they never make this mistake again.

Lawsuits like these are mostly a matter of principle. Mr. Dillinger doesn't seriously want all the unsold games to be recalled/destroyed, he's just using that as an ultimatum. He's going to ask for more money than what he believes he deserves, because that's just how things work--when a company screws up, you hit them hard, to deter anyone else from screwing up. And Rockstar will go along with it, and be sincerely apologetic, because that's the price of running a business.

This is all assuming that both of them are fair and rational, of course.

 

[darron13]

As much as I...dislike...rap, which is a shame because it feels like 70% of the stations in the game are made up of it, if this is true this guy deserves to be in some way compensated.

 

[Infernal Lawyer]

So by the look of this thread, rappers have no right to complain if people steal their music, because rap sucks anyway and Rockstar can basically do whatever they want because they are Rockstar?

Not sure i can agree on this, if he said no and they took it anyway, i'm totally on his side. But if everything went by the book, he doesn't have much of a case.

Seconded. It's pretty disgusting that people think this guy deserves to be screwed over or that he's more likely to be bullshitting just because he's a rap artist. I personally don't give a crap about the genre either, but come on people, show a little class.

OT: If we're going to take this at face value, then Rockstar is clearly in the wrong here. To quote the common fucking sense wisdom of someone else on this thread:

You either have a licensing deal or you don't. How much you paid for it is utterly irrelevant.

If Rockstar doesn't have a license to use his music they'd be in the wrong even if they offered a billion but got rejected.
If Rockstar does have a license to use his music they'd be in the right even if they offered a single cent and got accepted.

That said, it's not impossible that we don't know the full story, and hey, maybe someone at Rockstar just fucked up and they'll admit it. We'll just have to wait and see.

 

[omega 616]

This sounds more like "I took there original offer, saw they have made over a billion and now I want more".

I'm not that into rap but I've never heard of this guy, so wouldn't a bit of a "no-namer" leap at the chance to be featured in a game of gta calibre? Then when he sees the green rolling into Rockstar pockets he thinks "why not stake a claim? Worse case scenario is I get nothing, best case, I get more cash".

Just my initial impressions.

 

[Robert Marrs]

I seriously doubt a company as big as rockstar would intentionally rip somebody off on copyright, even more so considering this is the first time hearing this across all of the gta games. Someone had brought up the possibility that he does not actually own the music and a label owns it. The label could have sold rockstar the rights to use the music legally and he has no clue. Its also possible that this guy is just a broke, previously not really famous rapper trying to gain some quick publicity and cash.

 

[Poetic Nova]

If it is true, Rockstar should just disable this song then. It's not like there's any diffirent between rap "artists" anyway. Hell, would be awesome if you could disable individual station just for the sake of not having to hear music you don't like.

Anyway, we'll see what the outcome is, allthough it sounds like he's just seeking attention.

 

[008Zulu_v1legacy]

If the game allowed for importing of your own mp3's, then no one would have known that his "work" was in it.

 

[Undomesticated Equine]

A rapper claiming that he made music. That's a good one.

 

[Vrach]

Ooo, I'll be waiting for updates on this story. After all 'piracy is wrong and pirates should feel bad for not supporting artists!' say the game publishers, and using people's music in your commercial product without permission isn't very nice either. I get the feeling that someone isn't telling the whole story though and that this is a misunderstanding or someone is trying to cash in on the GTAV money train.

I kind of want it to be true though, just to see how Rockstar would justify it.

Especially considering all the preaching about piracy Rockstar has done and their claims that the PC versions come out later because they get pirated.

+1 on the interest in Rockstar's explanation. Although I'm betting it's gonna be settled quietly.

 

[EHKOS]

More like Grand Theft Audio, am I right

There is a rap group with that name, and yes their album cover is like GTA's.

That is a pitifully low sum of money to have a song put into something like this. Although now I see how Tyler got on there. That Garbage song couldn't be more appropriately named...*cough* But um, returning to the real subject, Rockstar had plenty of other rappers to choose from, I'm surprised they didn't get Nicki Minaj on there what with them putting that awful Fergie song in-there I go again...I'm uh, I'm just gonna leave......

AND PLAY MORE GTA V! AHAHAHAHA!

*runs into the door frame and falls unconscious*

EDIT: Although to be fair, rappers constantly rip off other things, Magno AKA Magnificent uses the Mcdonalds M to spell his name, and he has a golden arches chain, plenty of rappers use album covers ripping off copyrighted symbols, and Lil' Flip (who has no talent and thus makes it that much funnier to show this picture) put out an album with this cover:

Spoiler

Heck, even Chamillionaire calls himself King Koopa,

Spoiler

 

[Hagi]

This story is lacking crucial context, i.e. how much the other artists got paid for their songs.

It doesn't matter how much the other artists got paid for their songs.

You either have a licensing deal or you don't. How much you paid for it is utterly irrelevant.

If Rockstar doesn't have a license to use his music they'd be in the wrong even if they offered a billion but got rejected.
If Rockstar does have a license to use his music they'd be in the right even if they offered a single cent and got accepted.

I already said that they should pay him, so your selective quoting is a little bizarre.

The story needs the context I mentioned because otherwise we can't see how fair or unfair $4k is, as an offer.

There's no fairness involved in the price. Rockstar is free to offer whatever it wants and the artist is free to accept or reject if he wants.

It doesn't matter is the other artists got paid much more. It doesn't matter if they got paid equal or less. All that matters is whether or not they have a licensing deal, how much was paid for that deal and other deals is irrelevant.

 

[Hagi]

You see, you're looking at this wrong. I'm looking at this from an ethical point of view, whereas you're just looking at it from a legal point of view.

Hint: I don't care about the legal point of view

So you're saying that, from your ethical point of view, if I offer you a lot of money for something, more than I gave others, and you refuse after which I steal it that somehow makes a difference?

It's not about legalities. It's about not stealing from others. Having been willing to pay for it but gotten rejected does not make a difference, regardless of how much you were willing to pay.

 

[WaysideMaze]

Snip

You see, you're looking at this wrong. I'm looking at this from an ethical point of view, whereas you're just looking at it from a legal point of view.

Hint: I don't care about the legal point of view

No, you're looking at it wrong. It doesn't matter which point of view you care about, this isn't an ethical issue, it's a legal one.