2 Live Crew Legal Victory Overturned: Appeals Court Rules Rap Icons Can’t Take Back Catalog From Label

The ruling reverses a verdict that said the hip-hop group was the rightful owner of five of its albums under copyright's "termination right."

DJ Mr. Mixx (David Hobbs), Fresh Kid Ice (Chris Wong Won), Brother Marquis (Mark Ross), Luke Skyywalker (Luther Campbell) of the rap group "2 Live Crew" pose for a portrait session on January 30, 1989.

Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images

A federal appeals court has ruled against 2 Live Crew and overturned a verdict that allowed the legendary hip-hop group to regain legal control of much of their record catalog.

In a decision Tuesday (June 2), the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled that members of the group couldn’t invoke copyright law’s “termination right” — a provision that allows creators to take back ownership of their works decades after they sold them away.