Amazon In Mega Hip Hop Lawsuit

Amazon.com “shipping mishap” led to the premature distribution of approximately 500 copies of Lil Wayne’s ‘Rebirth’ to fans who had pre-orded the disc from the online retailer.

Did Amazon.com mess up the money for Cash Money Records? Is this how the story ends… potently millions of dollars put into the effort of making Lil Wayne’s upcoming album, “Rebirth” washed down the drain?! What are the consequences for such a huge blunder from a major online retailer?

Digital files of each of the 14 tracks from the “Rebirth” CD began to appear on rap websites, less than 24 hours after Billboard confirmed that an Amazon.com “shipping mishap” led to the premature distribution of approximately 500 copies of the album to fans who had pre-orded the disc from the online retailer. The album began arriving in mailboxes on Monday, Dec. 14 despite a change in the street date from Dec. 21 to February 1.

On Tuesday, other fans who had received the CD in the mail began posting photos of the disc… it was just a matter of time before one of the 500 recipients would upload the music anonymously.

Now the question is how and when will Universal Motown, the distributing label for Cash Money, and its distributor Universal Music Group Distribution make Amazon pay for this costly error?

How did Amazon.com get the album in the first place? …Universal Motown and UMGD recalled the album, but roughly one million units were manufactured and about one-third were shipped to accounts when the decision was made to pull “Rebirth” from the schedule, sources say.