i know this thread is old and all, but here's my two cents
i say if they got a cease and desist letter, its their own fault they're in jail. like a lot of people are saying, if you're under the radar, no big deal, right? DJ Drama was definitely on the radar. he was undoubtedly at a point in his career where he could step out on his own and do things on the up and up. if he wasn't getting pressured by any record companies, then why worry about doing anything the hard way though, right? that cease and desist letter makes things a whole lot different though. thats a cue to immediately pull whatever the letter was in reference to. if Drama woke up that day and quit selling his whole back catalog, i would bet he could have parlayed his reputation into a legitimate product where he owned the rights to everything, and got rappers on it with their label's approval and everything, sure it would have cost his bottom line, but not like a RICO case. maybe the publicity will do him good in the long run, but i wouldn't trade publicity for prison time