Dr. Dre accused Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene on Monday of copyright infringement after she used the instrumental of his song “Still D.R.E.” in a video shared on Twitter.
The nearly two-minute video, which has now been removed from Twitter, reportedly showed Greene walking around the halls of Congress in slow motion to his song. The video also showed Greene taking a phone call from “DT” — presumably a reference to former president Donald Trump. Lawyers for the rapper and producer sent a cease-and-desist letter on Monday, and he also weighed in with a statement to BuzzFeed News.
“I don’t license my music to politicians, especially someone as divisive and hateful as this one,” Dre said.
Lawyers for Dre, whose legal name is Andre Young, accused Greene of “wrongfully exploiting this work through the various social media outlets to promote your divisive and hateful political agenda.”
“Mr. Young has not, and will never, grant you permission to broadcast or disseminate any of his music,” the letter obtained by BuzzFeed News states. “One might expect that, as a member of Congress, you would have a passing familiarity with the laws of our country. It’s possible, though, that laws governing intellectual property are a little too arcane and insufficiently populist for you to really have spent much time on.”
In the letter, Dre’s lawyers ask the member of Congress to “cease and desist from any further unauthorized use of Andre Young’s music.”
“We’re writing because we think an actual lawmaker should be making laws, not breaking laws, especially those embodied in the constitution by the founding fathers,” the letter reads.