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Legendary producer/rapper Dr. Dre first broke into the mainstream in 1992 with the release of "The Chronic," a debut album which many consider as one of the greatest produced albums of all time.  The label which housed Dr. Dre, as well as Snoop Dogg, Tha Dogg Pound, and others, Death Row Records, was the dominant record label in the mid 90's turning out several hit records, as well as pushing Tupac Shakur further into the mainstream. 

Although the times looked promising for Death Row, Dr. Dre's departure in the late 90's, as well as Tupac's death and Snoop Dogg's subsequent departure from the label, Suge Knight and Death Row Records soon found themselves facing bankruptcy and other legal issues, issues which have all but left the former powerhouse label defunct.

Earlier this week, (August 15, 2007) Dr. Dre filed a lawsuit against his former label in Bankruptcy Court to regain the lawful rights to his debut album "The Chronic."  The suit claims that 2 previous agreements made with the label, the first in 1992 which gave Death Row rights to distribute "The Chronic" and the second in 1996 which gave Death Row the rights to "The Chronic" as long as Dr. Dre received royalties, are in fact null in void to to Death Row's failure to pay Dr. Dre the royalties due for selling and distributing the album through the aforementioned agreements.  The suit claims that because of this, the rightful owner of the copyrights to "The Chronic" is in fact Dr. Dre.

The suit also claims that the current trustee overseeing the now defunct Death Row label is "in the process of selling the copyrights to the album" without Dr. Dre's permission.  The lawsuit is seeking a permanent injunction against Death Row and the trustee to prevent the selling of the album's copyright, while Dr. Dre is also seeking restitution for any revenue generated by Death Row with "The Chronic" while the label was using the copyrights to the album.