Uncle Luke Celebrates 2 Live Crew Reclaiming Music Rights After Legal Victory Over Label
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Uncle Luke is celebrating 2 Live Crew being awarded the rights to their music after winning a lengthy legal battle with their former record label.
In an Instagram video filmed outside the Dade County Federal Courthouse on Wednesday (October 16), the Southern Hip Hop pioneer celebrated the group’s trial victory over Lil Joe Records.
Over the moon that they had reclaimed the master recording copyrights to their catalog, Luke said: “2 Live Crew, we won! We got all our shit back from Lil Joe Weinberger. All of it! All the albums! Yes, we won! God is so good, you just gotta believe in him.”
He also posted a photo of him stood next to his legal team outside of the courthouse and wrote: “We are so blessed I want to thank the attorneys in this case Mark Ross, Chris Wong Wong kids who stood hard in the paint our attorneys who believed in this case.”
He added: “This case was about getting back what was wrongfully [taken] away from us. This morning I am so happy for all of our kids. Now they can reap the benefits and the rewards of their parents hard work.”
The victory was also celebrated by the likes of Rick Ross, Jermaine Dupri, Arsenio Hall and D-Nice, who applauded the news in Luke’s comments section.
Weinberger bought the rights to 2 Live Crew’s master recordings out of bankruptcy for $800,000 back in 1995.
Since then, he has been distributing the records and collecting royalties on sales and streams until 2020 when Luke and the other members of the group attempted to take back control of their publishing, citing the Copyright Act which reverts ownership back to its creator after 35 years.
Weinberger argued that 2 Live Crew had no right to terminate and that their albums were made as “works for hire,” meaning the group were employees of the record label. He also claimed that they signed away their right to reclaim the copyright when they sold him the master recordings.
The jury overseeing the civil matter ruled in favor of Uncle Luke and 2 Live Crew.
2 Live Crew are no strangers to a legal fight as the group were arrested on obscenity charges after performing their controversial album As Nasty As They Wanna Be, which had been made illegal to sell.
Uncle Luke and the rest of the group, which comprised of Mr. Mixx and the late Fresh Kid Ice and Brother Marquis, were eventually found not guilty on a point of freedom of speech.
Luke has also flirted with the idea of entering politics, despite his controversial history and battles with the establishment.
He explained to The Bulwark earlier this year why he was interested in getting involved in politics: “I’m living my ideal. I have the opportunity to bring something back to the community…And I get to fight these motherfuckers.”
He clarified that those “motherfuckers” include: “Matt Gaetz, Donald Trump, and all these crazy-ass Republicans who want to divide us.”
