Hip-hop flip-flop

Hip-hop flip-flop
by JOHN BALZ
The Toronto Star, publication date: 16 May 2005
"If these cases are simply small artist attempts to extort money from established stars, the nobodies shouldn't hold their breath. Federal courts have been applying copyright standards and setting some new precedents. The first is that unknown artists should be wary of giving their demos to big names. In March, a court dismissed a lawsuit by Philadelphia songwriter Michael Lowe, who claimed Dr. Dre and Xzibit plagiarized his beats on Xzibit's Relentless album. Lowe said he gave a demo recording to a Dre associate to pass on to Dre, who used the track. While Lowe claimed Dre and Xzibit needed to provide evidence of their copyright of the beat, the court ruled the opposite: It was Lowe who needed to show that he owned the copyright."