Shenmue. A Retraction

Yesterday we reported on the recently released music album Shenmue. A Love Letter. You may have noticed that this article has now been removed, and that's because new facts have come to light regarding the legalities of this work. According to this thread over at Shenmue Dojo, several of the tracks do not belong to credited composer Patrem and were used without the consent of the original artists. Indeed, the album features performances by pianist Reuben Kee who sadly died in 2007.

"Hell no I didn't give him permission [to use my tracks]. If I didn't think trying to profit off Sega's properties was the dumbest idea ever, I'd be selling these myself."

 - LanDC

Furthermore, some of the tracks simply appear to be slightly slowed or sped up versions of tracks ripped straight from the Shenmue game with no permission from Sega. While we have had our own wrists slapped by Sega for selling the Ultimate Guide (I'm just mentioning that here so we don't look like massive hypocrites!), we cannot condone somebody profiting from others' hard work (especially when those performers are no longer around to cry plagiarism). Thanks to Skilljim, LanDC, Sega Scream and the other members of the Shenmue Dojo forum for bringing this to our attention.