Daz Dillinger, real name Delmar Drew Arnaud, has filed a lawsuit against the record label Amaru Entertainment for alleged unpaid royalties for his contributions to 2Pac’s music.
In civil action legal documents reviewed by Complex, Dillinger has alleged that Amaru Entertainment, which was founded by 2Pac’s late mother Afeni Shakur following his death in 1996, breached contract and profited off his work. “In the course of his career, [Daz Dillinger] created, wrote, co-wrote, produced, performed on, and/or otherwise contributed copyrightable expression and valuable production services to numerous Tupac Shakur-related musical works,” the lawsuit reads.
Dillinger contributed production and songwriting to five tracks on 2Pac’s All Eyez on Me, the last album released during his lifetime. His contributions included the singles “2 of Amerikaz Most Wanted” and “I Ain’t Mad at Cha.”
“[Daz Dillinger] is informed and believes that Amarau has held itself out as entitled to exploit, license, administer, collect income from, and otherwise commercially benefit from [his work],” the lawsuit continues. “[Dillinger] entered into written agreements with Amaru and/or with predecessors, affiliates, labels, administrators, or other entities whose accounting and payment obligations Amrau later assumed, ratified, adopted, or succeeded to insofar as Amrau exploits, administers, collects on, and pays under those master recordings.”
Dillinger said that he does not have any agreements, licenses, or royalty statements about his work with Pac, as they were handled by third parties. However, he is under the belief that Amaru is in possession or control of such documents, even if some may have been “lost, misplaced, or inadvertently destroyed over time.” Dillinger was credited as a producer and songwriter on the tracks he worked on for Pac, and said he had previously received royalties for his work.
“On or before October 18, 2024, [Dillinger] demanded that Amaru pay all royalties due, provide a full accounting, and produce copies of all pertinent agreements relating to records released or administered by Amaru featuring [Dillinger’s] performances and contributions as a writer, songwriter, producer, and/or performer,” the lawsuit reads. After he made the request, he received $91,445.27, but was not provided with a royalty statement showing how that figure was determined.
“Amaru’s payment confirms that monies were due and that Amaru was acting in response to [Dillinger’s] royalty and accounting demand,” the lawsuit adds. He believes that he is owed additional royalties for his contributions, and that Amarau’s failure to provide royalty statements should require proper accounting to determine whether that is the case.
