Warner Bros. Records Threatens Copyright Infringement Claims Against Top Urban Websites/Blogs Including Coast 2 Coast Mixtapes on Behalf of Gucci Mane

Warner Bros. Records makes yet another mistake in the unstable music industry by sending numerous copyright infringement claims to top websites and blogs including Coast 2 Coast Mixtapes, ordering them to remove any Gucci Mane content. The falter will more than likely hinder the incarcerated rapper’s return to the music scene as his career has been built upon mixtapes, djs, blogs and the underground culture.

(NewIndustryTips.com) April 8, 2010 — Warner Bros. Records has sent numerous copyright infringement claims against many of the top website and blogs in the urban music industry including Coast 2 Coast Mixtapes. The claims, sent by a 3rd party “GrayZone, Inc.” based in New York, states that the websites have infringed on the copyrighted property of Warner Bros. Records, Inc and requested removal of all mentions of Gucci Mane on the sites in question, barring legal action.

Coast 2 Coast Mixtape Vol. 118 – Hosted by Three 6 Mafia

One website affected by the actions is http://www.Coast2CoastMixtapes.com, a promotional website that features mixtapes from many of the biggest artist in the urban music industry. Coast 2 Coast Mixtapes works with every major artist in the industry to release promotional material on a regular basis for promotional use. Previous hosts have included many top artists and DJs such as Snoop Dogg, DJ Khaled, DJ Drama, Keri Hilson, Ciara, Nas, LL Cool J and many more.

The website http://www.Coast2CoastMixtapes.com was asked to remove all Gucci Mane earlier this month even though they host no files on the actual website, causing them to question the grounds of the sweeping claims. On April, 8th, the website hosting company for http://www.coast2coastmixtapes.com, GoDaddy.com, was sent a Cease and Desist letter as well and shut the website down for a matter of hours. The site was immediately reinstated as no copyright laws had been violated, leaving website owners to questions the validity of the claims.

“The funny thing is we don’t host any files on our site,” explains Coast 2 Coast Mixtapes CEO Kyle “Lil Fats” Hiersche, “We help promote music to the fans and use other parties to help our efforts, meaning we don’t host any files but use providers like Datpiff.com to stream music. When we were asked to remove all files we questioned the basis of the claims, stating that we in fact don’t host any music on the website. We like to promote music of all kinds but if Warner Bros. Records doesn’t want to be included then we will gladly stop promoting all their artists.”

These claims seem to come at a pivotal time in the rapper’s career, as his buzz is growing bigger than ever it seems the label is determined to undermine any traction they have gained. Gucci Mane’s whole career had been built upon a heavy mixtape presence that had catapulted him to the top of most urban blogs and websites. The blackballing of websites by the artist is sure to incite a flurry of backlashes at the artist’s career, at a time when he cannot even defend the actions of his label while incarcerated.