Press Release
Music Producer Files Lawsuit
Hillsborough Music Producer Fanatik-J files a lawsuit in Federal District Court (Northern District of California) against CMH Records, OCD International, Vitamin Records.
In 2003 music producer/guitar instructor Fanatik-J collaborated with celebrity rapper Kool Keith (aka Dr. Octagon) in Hollywood, California on a follow-up to the hit record "Dr. Octagon" (re-released on Spielberg's Dreamworks Records, 1996).
The original album, "Dr. Octagon", is widely considered by critics to be one of the most influential albums in the history of hip-hop music and it launched the internationally renowned careers of San Francisco super-producer Dan the Automator and the legendary San Francisco DJ, DJ Q-Bert. After the success of the Dr. Octagon album Kool Keith went on to appear on The Prodigy's multi-platinum smash-hit "Smack My B**ch Up" (released on Madonna's Maverick Records). The music video for this song was named MTV's "Most Controversial Video" of all time after it appeared in the #1 position on MTV's Most Controversial Videos television special.
By 2003 a much anticipated reprise of the "Dr. Octagon" album was in the works and Kool Keith selected local music producer Fanatik-J to co-write the songs and produce the album. Upon completion of the demo tracks Kool Keith signed a recording contract with Los Angeles' CMH Records and their subsidiary Vitamin Records. Kool Keith and Fanatik-J objected to clauses in the production contracts and Fanatik-J refused the use of his materials in the album. Fanatik-J retained the services of Los Angeles attorney Edward Shapiro and successfully blocked the release until the summer of 2006 when CMH Records, OCD International and Vitamin Records released the album with the inclusion of Fanatik-J's copyrighted materials. While the album went on to garner attention from MTV News, MTV 2, VH1 and Rolling Stone Magazine it was widely criticized on the Internet by fans and bloggers as being un-authentic. The East Bay Express' David Downs (Village Voice Media Group) made the claim to be the first to print allegations regarding the controversy surrounding "The Return of Dr. Octagon" and these allegations were subsequently reported on in the Washington Post (screen shot) and in other media outlets.
In the fall of 2007 Fanatik-J retained the services of San Mateo copyright attorney Ray .K Shahani and in late December of that year the pair filed a suit in United States District Court (case # C 07-06476 VRW-the honorable Vaughn R. Walker) alleging Copyright Infringement, Slander, Wire Fraud, Unfair Competition and RICO violations.
2 comments:
This is great news. We really need to stop all of the fraud and theft that occurs in the music industry. I hope Fanatik-J sues them for every penny.
This is a textbook illustration of why we need to see more independent productions in Music and film. The big studios have a track record of destroying the greatest potential projects.
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