Illegal Art released Night Ripper on May 9, 2006 as a digital download on their website. Strong demand prompted the label to produce physical CD and LP copies of the album for shipping to select record stores, as well as make it available for purchase on several online retailers. Illegal Art did not clear any of the samples used on Night Ripper, leading to several problems in the album's distribution and release. At least one CD manufacturing plant refused to press the album, and the head of another plant asked Gillis and his label to justify the use of two specifically chosen samples. Online music stores eMusic and iTunes both pulled Night Ripper from sale due to sample clearance concerns. Anticipating lawsuits, Illegal Art prepared a defense citing the fair use trademark law as a legal backbone for the album's use of samples. The label also went over the possibility of a royalty system, but ultimately scrapped it when they decided that it would only weaken their fair use argument. When asked about the possibility of suing Gillis and Illegal Art, however, one major-label executive stated his belief that filing a lawsuit against a minor independent label – especially for an album which, at that point, had barely sold 10,000 copies – would only bring bad publicity. Ultimately, no lawsuits materialized in wake of the album's success, which Gillis described as "liberating."
