Lawyers for Dr. Dre have
requested that a five-year-old multi-million dollar lawsuit be dismissed, after
the super producer was sued by several people that claimed they were illegally
included in 2001’s "Up in Smoke" DVD.
Dre, Time Warner Inc. and
Best Buy were hit with the lawsuit in 2000, after several people claimed their
private backstage conversations were illegally videotaped and included in the
DVD.
The contested clip features
a former spokesman for the mayor of Detroit and former police officers in a
heated argument with representatives for Dre over a controversial video clip
that the police later censored.
They claim they never authorized
their appearance in the popular DVD, which also featured performances by Eminem,
Snoop Dogg and Ice Cube.
Lawyers for Dre dismissed
the allegations and said that all three were aware the cameras were rolling.
The lawsuit is
one of several headaches the "Up in Smoke" tour encountered in 2000
in Detroit, Michigan.
When the tour hit
town, Detroit police officers prevented Dre from playing an explicit video during
the performance.
Shortly afterwards,
the super producer filed a $25 million dollar lawsuit against the city, claiming
his right to free speech had been trampled.
The three plaintiffs were
originally seeking damages totaling $3 billion and settled a portion of the
lawsuit in January of 2004.
All individuals filed state
and federal lawsuits against the super producer for "acquiring and commercial
exploitation of the victims private conversations and their likenesses."
A judge previously ruled
in favor of Dre pertaining to the controversial clip featured in the "Up
in Smoke" tour.
In April of 2002, a judge
ruled the city violated Dre’s free speech and ordered the city of Detroit to
issue an apology for preventing the video from being played during the sold
out show.
Additionally, the
city was ordered to pay a $25,000 fine, issue an apology to Dr. Dre and the
Detroit Police were forced to undergo first amendment training.