Grand Theft Auto is great for many reasons, but chief among them are the expertly curated playlists. The series’ fifth incarnation commissioned in-game radio stations from Flying Lotus, Twin Shadow, Bootsy Collins, Lee “Scratch” Perry, and Kenny Loggins, as well as exclusive new tracks by Future (“How It Was”), A$AP Rocky (“R. Cali”), Tyler, the Creator, and recent Best New Artist 100s. GTAV also sports two tracks by Daz Dillinger, a confidant of Dr. Dre and Snoop Dogg, who claims the title’s maker, Rockstar Games, used his work without permission.
Per TMZ, Dillinger has issued a cease-and-desist letter to Rockstar Games and Take-Two Interactive over the use of a few of his most classic beats: “C-Walk” and “Nothin’ but the Cavi Hit,” two songs Dillinger produced and features on, the first by Kurupt and the second by Mack 10. Dillinger claims that the two companies offered to buy the rights to the tracks for a total of $4,271, and that they went ahead and used the songs even after he turned down what he called an “offensively low offer.” In his letter, Dillinger demands that Rockstar and Take-Two agree to pay him more money for the songs or recall and destroy all current unsold games. Dillinger has set a deadline of 14 days from Friday, October 11, 2013.
The game racked up $800 million in sales in its first day alone. What’s a measly five figures to make this all go away?
