Warner Bros. Takes Action Against Illegal Gucci Mane Mixtape Distribution

Hip-hop artists have embraced mixtapes as the best route to circumvent the delays and legal hoopla that come along with releasing studio albums, but big labels aren't ready to let this one go with a fight.

On Thursday, April 9, Newindustrytips.com reported that Warner Bros. Records has taken action against mixtape distribution by sending copyright infringement claims to a number of websites who have hosted content from their recording artist, Gucci Mane. Warner Bros. has reportedly requested that all content and mention of the incarcerated rapper be removed from promotional hip-hop sites, barring legal action. One of the websites targeted in this purge is Coast2CoastMixtapes.com, a site which features a constant stream of promotional work from big artists such as Nas, Keri Hilson and Snoop Dogg, just to name a few.

Although the popular site was asked to remove all material by Gucci Mane, Coast2Coast CEO, Kyle "Lil Fats" Hiersche, explained that no files are actually hosted on the site. "The funny thing is we don't host any files on our site," Hiersche said. "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." Hiersche concluded that if Warner Bros. plans to continue their purging mission, the site would have no problem ceasing to use their artists. "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," he said.

The irony of Warner Bros. current legal sweep is based on the fact that much of Gucci Mane's buzz was developed through promotional mixtape sites such as Coast2CoastMixtapes.com.