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Pretty Boy Gangsters Member Sues iTunes for Copyright Violations

image from www.google.com [Updated] Korvel Sutton, a former member of now defunct rap group Pretty Boy Gangsters, has filed a lawsuit against iTunes for selling what he maintains are unlicensed tracks from their 1991 cassette release Rollin' Like A Star. The alleged infringements include a number of compilation albums as well as PBG – the Album.

TorrentFreak obtained a copy of the filing by Korvel Sutton in California's U.S. District Court against Apple's iTunes Store. Sutton is representing himself and includes copies of the Rollin' Like A Star cassettes on which the tracks appear. He is asking only for royalties, which means he'll miss out on the real money for damages, reminding us of why self-representation tends to be a mistake.

According to Apple, the compilation albums were provided by Rams Horn Records, based in the Netherlands. At least some of the compilation albums are attributed to Rams Horn divisions, Street Dance and Dance Factory, and include West Coast Posse 1, Elektro Hip Hop Party Vol. 3 and 2 Live Crew & Posse.

The compilations mentioned above only include K The Buster but iTunes is also carrying an album called PBG – the Album attributed to Pretty Boy Gangster (no S) that has a song listing identical to the cassette tape Rollin' Like A Star.

TorrentFreak has posted the filing on Scribd for your viewing pleasure.

Update: I updated the release date of the cassette to 1991.  Not sure how I made that mistake but I was corrected by someone claiming to be Mr. Sutton who writes in all caps using abusive language.  Reminds me of why I no longer write about hip hop!

Hypebot contributor Clyde Smith is a freelance writer and blogger. He is currently relaunching Flux Research to pursue his long-standing interest in web business models. To suggest music services and related topics for review at Hypebot, please contact: clyde(at)fluxresearch(dot)com.

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