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This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: A recap of all the biggest music law stories from 2024; a civil lawsuit against Nicki Minaj claiming she assaulted a tour staffer; an agreement to delay Lil Durk’s murder-for-hire trial by months; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: 2024 Music Law Recap
Before we get to 2025 (happy New Year, by the way) let’s quickly recap all of the biggest music law stories of 2024 — a collection of high-stakes legal battles for some of the industry’s biggest players.
For Live Nation and Ticketmaster, the Department of Justice’s antitrust case posed an existential threat; for Young Thug and Lil Durk, each facing criminal cases accusing them of blurring the line between artist and gangster, a life prison sentence loomed; for Michael Jackson’s estate, court approval of a massive catalog sale hung in the balance; for Miley Cyrus, allegations of infringement stalked the biggest hit of her career; and for Drake, he put his reputation on the line to go to court over Kendrick Lamar’s diss track.
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And none of that even approached the scale of the legal debacle facing Sean “Diddy” Combs. After decades as a chart-topping artist/producer and one of the industry’s most powerful men, the music mogul was hit with a flood of abuse allegations — first in the form of civil lawsuits, then in a stunning criminal indictment that could put him behind bars for life.
For more, go read our entire story on the 10 biggest music law stories of the year.
Other top stories this week…
BACKSTAGE BLOWS – Nicki Minaj was hit with a civil lawsuit over allegations that the rapper physically attacked a tour staffer named Brandon Garrett backstage at an April concert. Garrett says the rapper (Onika Maraj) hit him multiple times after flying into a rage at the Detroit stop on her 2024 Pink Friday 2 tour — an outburst that allegedly featured the star screaming: “You’re a dead man walking. You just f—ed up your whole life and you will never be anyone, I’ll make sure of it.”
DURK DELAYED – Lil Durk’s trial on federal murder-for-hire charges will be pushed back until October after both his lawyers and federal prosecutors agreed to a months-long delay. The case — over an alleged plot to kill rival rapper Quando Rondo — had been set for trial this month, but his attorneys waived his right to an immediate trial because the case is “so unusual and so complex” that they needed more time to prepare.
NAME GAME – A federal judge ruled that a woman accusing Diplo of sharing “revenge porn” must reveal her identity if she wants to proceed with the case. “Doe” pseudonyms have become common in sexual abuse complaints, and attorneys for the DJ’s accuser argued she might face blowback. But the judge was unswayed, saying court cases must usually feature real names: “Those using the courts must be prepared to accept the public scrutiny that is an inherent part of public trials.”
DISMISSAL DENIED – Danny Elfman lost a bid to end a libel lawsuit filed against him by former friend Nomi Abadi, who claims the prolific film composer defamed her when he issued a strongly-worded statement denying her accusations of sexual harassment. Elfman argued that his statement was protected by “litigation privilege” because it was issued amid threats of court action, but the judge didn’t buy it: “To allow defendant Elfman to make statements and permit their publication while hiding behind the litigation privilege would decimate the purpose of the privilege.”
KISS CASE CLOSED – Kiss members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley reached a settlement to end a wrongful termination lawsuit accusing them of firing their longtime hairstylist, David Mathews, after he complained about “unsafe working conditions” amid the COVID-19 pandemic. The band is still facing another lawsuit filed by the family of Francis S. Stueber, a guitar tech who died in October 2021 while quarantining in a hotel room on tour.
TUPAC UPDATE – Duane Davis, the ex-gang leader facing a murder trial over the long-unsolved 1996 killing of Tupac Shakur, asked a Nevada judge to dismiss the charges against him. In doing so, he cited “egregious” constitutional violations because of the 27-year delay, a supposed lack of corroborating evidence and a failure to honor previous immunity agreements.
The numbers are in on the first edition of ComplexCon Las Vegas, the festival dedicated to convergence culture that debuted in its new home in November 2024. Sixty thousand attendees visited the shoppable exhibition featuring music, fashion, art, food, innovation and sports collaborations. Over two days, sales totaled more than $20 million, marking record numbers for the event, which began in 2016 in Long Beach, Calif.
By all accounts, Las Vegas and ComplexCon are a perfect match. The 300-plus brands have an entire cityscape to activate collaborations, exclusive drops and live performances.
By day, the hypebeasts dropped their paychecks on Takashi Murakami Ohana Hatake Full-Boom Slides, the Pac Sun x Yohji Yamamoto Wildside capsule, King Ice Pokémon-embellished jewels and Travis Scott’s Nike Zoom Field Jaxx. They snapped pics with Dan Life’s MVMT x Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 limited-edition timepiece and the ESPN SportsCenter Top 10 Chain. Cannabis brand STIIIZY popped up with a replica weed cultivation experience, and Gin & Juice by Dre and Snoop poured out their new distilled gin, Still G.I.N.
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Outside the exhibition, Gunna performed at Drai’s wearing Adidas Originals Adizero Aruku sneakers; Juice WRLD’s team held a final album listening party and celebration for the late rapper’s Fortnite Battle Royale, Chapter 2 Remix appearance at Zouk nightclub; and Jordan Brand created the Cactus Jack Outpost, an immersive experience that brought Scott’s utopian vision to life and showcased his journey in creating the CJ1 T-Rexx shoe.
Neil Wright, senior vp of experiential events at ComplexCon, attributes the success of the first Vegas outing to the expanded music component, including CactusCon, with the participation of Scott as artistic director.
“Music — even though it’s always been a pillar of ComplexCon, it has never been more prominent, with Travis having his influence over the entire show,” Wright says. “[In the past], we’ve had Pharrell, from a cultural perspective, help with the curatorial aspects, but the look, feel, and identity of each year, we’ve always tapped a fine artist. Having Travis put his arms and his creative vision around it with his team was a major co-sign to get the music industry involved.”
Scott unveiled over 35 exclusive collaborations and installations with influential designers, artists, and brands in the CactusCon bazaar. In the Cactus Colosseum by Nike, he pushed soccer, sneakers, and community, celebrating the Nike Zoom Field Jaxx launch with the Secreto Maximus Tournament, a high-stakes private soccer match at the Cactus Colosseum featuring top athletes and showcasing a trophy case of his Nike collaborations. He closed the two-day festival with a performance on ComplexCon’s Main Stage, bringing out WWE’s “Triple H” as a surprise appearance to present him with the WWE Hardcore Championship belt. Amplifying his presence to a new demographic, he announced a Jan. 6 appearance on the first RAW on Netflix.
Scott will use this “takeover” formula when he plays Coachella in April with a Cactus Jack desert domination, sharing his universe with the festival audience in the desert.
Another major boon for ComplexCon Las Vegas was Nike’s investment in music collaborations and product innovation. In addition to Scott, the sneaker giant partnered with Lil Yachty and the Concrete Boys on the Nike Us Force 1. Nike also debuted the Air Max 1000, a new 3D-printed silhouette manufactured with Zellerfeld that reimagines the Air Max 1.
“From a strictly square footage perspective, this was Nike’s biggest impact on ComplexCon. They’ve done so many things over the years that were cool at the moment but aged even better. In 2017, there was a fireside chat with Kendrick Lamar and Kobe Bryant, and they also brought Virgil Abloh to debut his collection that year.”
Dc2trill, Draft Day, Lil Yachty, and Camo! attend ComplexCon 2024 on November 17, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Sara Jaye/Getty Images for Complex
It wasn’t that long ago—back in 2016—that Wright remembers when ComplexCon was just a concept deck that he and founders Aaron Levant and Marc Ecko were pitching Nike.
“It’s a trade show. No, it’s not a trade show. It’s a music festival. No, it’s not a music festival,” he recalls. “It was difficult to convey what we were trying to build in year one.”
Year eight signified the complete vision, activated. The exhibition featured Capitol, Interscope and Def Jam booths peddling ephemera such as Ice Spice Chia Pets, vintage Tupac T-shirts and vinyl records. A Rick Owens-designed Cactus Jack recording studio was also on display.
“You don’t want the same type of artist merch that you can get anywhere. Rather than partnering on a sneaker drop, many of our brands collaborate with recording artists such as Ed Hardy and Ken Carson, as well as Siobhan Bell and B.B. Simon,” Wright says. “Music collaborations have become just as important.”
L.A.-based high-tech footwear brand FCTRY LAb debuted at ComplexCon with their viral Duck Boots in black and yellow created in collaboration with rapper NLE Choppa.
FCTRY LAb co-founder and creative director Omar Bailey, the former Head of the Yeezy-Adidas Innovation Lab, started the company two years ago (funded by a diverse group of venture capital firms, professional athletes and angel investors).
Bailey aims to help rappers, actors, athletes, influencers or public figures design, develop and manufacture their own footwear outside the frame of major brands like Nike or Adidas. “There is a huge opportunity for artists who may not be on the big brands’ radar, who have, who have the reach, the ability and the desire to want to launch their own shoes,” he says. “We also want to create radical and interesting concepts and designs in a space that’s been quite boring for the last 10 years.”
DJ EFN, Dr. Dre, and Snoop Dogg speak onstage during ComplexCon 2024 on November 16, 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Bryan Steffy/Getty Images for Complex
According to FCTRY LAb, the formula works. The Yellow Boot was a significant unpaid, organic social media moment for the sneaker industry, accumulating 308 million views and 17 million+ instances of direct consumer engagement.
From the disruptors to the mainstream, brands such as WWE, which collaborated with Loiter; Tide, which sponsored ThriftCon; and Chips Ahoy, which partnered with Big Sean, all flocked to participate. At that convergence, things get even more interesting for Wright, with ComplexCon acting like an internal agency to help them fit in. “We work very closely with a lot of the bigger, non endemic partners to make sure that when they do show up, they’re showing up in a credible and an authentic way,” he says. “They put effort into actually speaking the language of our audience.”
Collaborating with WWE was a dream for fashion house Loiter, created by Isaac Metekingi. With a design ethos rooted in hip-hop and electronic music subcultures, Loiter, the in-house brand for Culture Kings, was inspired by the grunge-inspired graphics of WWE superstars, including Duane “The Rock” Johnson, The Undertaker, “Stone Cold” Steve Austin and “The Big Red Monster” Kane. Its booth featured the “Raw is War” entrance for photo ops.
“They were a little bit skeptical when we presented the idea—they had all their modern wrestlers. And I was like, I’m gonna go way back, and after a while, they saw the vision,” Metekingi says. “For a relatively unknown brand, we had an unbelievable presence.”
ComplexCon aims to have an even bigger year in 2025, with artist Daniel Arsham serving as the global artistic director. The event will travel to Hong Kong from March 21-23, 2025 and return to Las Vegas on Oct. 25-26, 2025.
Kiss members Gene Simmons and Paul Stanley have reached a settlement to end a wrongful termination lawsuit accusing them of firing their longtime hairstylist after he complained about “unsafe working conditions” amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
With a jury trial set to kick off later this month, attorneys for both sides told a Los Angeles judge on Monday that they had “resolved” the case, in which David Mathews claimed that he had been abruptly terminated in 2022 after serving as the band’s hairstylist for 30 years.
Terms of the agreement were not disclosed in court filings and neither side immediately returned requests for comment.
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Mathews sued the iconic rock band in 2023, alleging he had been fired in retaliation after he repeatedly raised concerns about the band’s allegedly lax approach to the pandemic. Among other allegations, he said he was forced to work in close proximity to band members like Simmons even when they were sick.
“He was coughing and blowing his nose in the dressing room while still insisting that he felt fine,” Mathews wrote of one encounter with Simmons. “Once again, Mr. Mathews was required to be in Mr. Simmons presence to perform his job duties.”
Mathews isn’t the only person to sue over Kiss over the band’s COVID-19 protocols. The band is also facing a wrongful death lawsuit from the family of Francis S. Stueber, a longtime guitar tech who died in October 2021 while quarantining in a hotel room. The suit claims that the band ignored their own safety rules and failed to arrange medical aid to Stueber after he fell ill.
In his lawsuit, Mathews included his own recounting of Stueber’s death, saying he had repeatedly warned the band and manager Doc McGhee that the man “needs to go to the hospital.” When the incident was later reported by Rolling Stone, Mathews said the band accused him of leaking information to magazine – a claim he denied.
In the wake of Stueber’s death, Mathews claimed that he had numerous run-ins with the band over health and safety, saying that he was “very concerned about the practices pertaining to COVID protocols and decisions being considered by management.” In one incident, he claimed that the band wanted to board commercial flights to South America even though he had tested positive for the coronavirus.
In May 2022, Mathews claimed, McGhee told him that the band felt he had “betrayed and been disloyal to them and they wanted to make a change.” Though he again denied serving as a source for the Rolling Stone report, he said McGhee soon informed him that he would be terminated: “After being a part of KISS for 30 years, Mr. Mathews was in a complete state of shock.”
With a trial looming, the judge overseeing the case had urged both sides to strike a deal. As reported by Rolling Stone, Judge Armen Tamzarian said at a court hearing last month that the case presented “very serious risks” to both sides if it went to a jury.
“If this goes to trial, it would not surprise me if Mr. Mathews got nothing. It would not surprise me if he made a big pot of money. This is the kind of case any rational person would settle. There’s big risk this could swing dramatically one way or the other,” the judge reportedly said at the time.
As Discogs marches towards its 25th anniversary later this year, the music discovery platform has announced new milestones in collection trends among its physical music-loving users.
According to fresh figures released Tuesday (Jan. 7), Discogs members cataloged over 105.7 million pieces of music in 2024 — an average of 2 million vinyl albums, CDs, tapes, 8-tracks and any other catalogable format you can think of per week.
Since its inception, more than 830 million items have been cataloged, with average collections — which are predominantly vinyl — hovering around 195 items per user, the company said. Collectors made sure to log a lot of copies of Taylor Swift’s The Tortured Poets Department, the year’s most collected album at more than 130,000, followed by releases from Charli XCX and Billie Eilish. The most collected artist of all time continues to be four lads from Liverpool and the most collected master is Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon. The most collected individual release is the original 180-gram version of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories, from 2013. (Incidentally, the label that released RAM — Columbia — is the most collected imprint out there.)
Jeffrey Smith, Discogs’ vice president of marketing, emphasized the significance of reaching 105.7 million records cataloged in a single year, noting that each record represents a “deliberate choice” by a real person to “hold, own, and listen to music with intention.”
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“Discogs continues to exist because people care deeply about music as something tangible and meaningful,” Smith added. “This collection milestone reflects a global community driven deeply by passion, connection, and an unwavering commitment to the music that shapes their lives.”
Discogs’ other function, as a viable place to buy and sell those physical music collections, is also hoping to hit a milestone this year. In early 2024, the company told Billboard that it wants to boost its online database to 25 million marketplace listings by its 25th anniversary in November 2025.
Here are some stats on Discogs’ collections:
Average collection size: 195 items
Average collection value: $317
Most collected album ever: The Dark Side of the Moon, Pink Floyd
Most collected albums of 2024:The Tortured Poets Department, Taylor Swift (130,000-plus)Brat, Charli XCX (40,000-plus)Hit Me Hard And Soft, Billie Eilish (40,000-plus)Short N’ Sweet, Sabrina Carpenter (30,000)Songs Of A Lost World, The Cure (27,000)
Most collected record ever: Original 180-gram vinyl of Daft Punk’s Random Access Memories
Record label with the most items in collection: Columbia
Most collected formats:1. Vinyl2. CDs4. Cassettes
Kobalt has tapped Rani Hancock to be its new executive vp/head of U.S. creative. In the role, Hancock will lead the company’s creative teams in New York, Los Angeles and Nashville, and she will report to Kobalt’s president/chief commercial officer Jeannette Perez. This marks Hancock’s first foray into publishing after spending her career as a […]
An ex-gang leader is seeking to have all the charges against him dismissed in the 1990s killing of rap music icon Tupac Shakur. Attorney Carl Arnold filed the motion on Monday in the District Court of Nevada to dismiss charges against Duane Davis in the 1996 shooting of Shakur. The motion alleges “egregious” constitutional violations because […]
Vivid Seats, an online ticket resale marketplace that went public through a SPAC merger in 2021, is reportedly fielding acquisition offers from several equity firms hoping to take the company private, according to a recent report in Bloomberg. Company officials have brought on an advisory firm to help gauge interest in a potential sale, according […]
Lupe Fiasco is teaming up with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology to produce an FM radio station. There’s a catch, though: The project will be fully powered by artificial intelligence. The Chicago rapper-turned-professor made the announcement on Instagram last week with a lengthy caption, which read in part: “Imagine if there was a 24-hour fully […]
Film composer Danny Elfman has lost a bid to dismiss a defamation lawsuit over statements he made to the media defending himself from sexual harassment allegations.
The ruling came in a case filed last year by former friend and fellow composer Nomi Abadi, who claims that Elfman defamed her when he issued a strongly-worded statement to Rolling Stone denying her accusations that he had exposed himself and masturbated in front of her.
Elfman had argued that he couldn’t be sued because his comments were made in the course of litigation — a form of legal “privilege” designed to ensure that the adversarial American court system can function properly without fear of defamation lawsuits.
But in a decision issued Dec. 24, Judge Gail Killefer denied Elfman’s motion and allowed Abadi’s case to advance. In her ruling, the judge said Elfman’s comments to Rolling Stone had been more akin to a “press release” than a protected legal motion.
“To allow defendant Elfman to make statements and permit their publication while hiding behind the litigation privilege would decimate the purpose of the privilege,” the judge wrote.
In a statement to Billboard on Monday, Elfman’s attorney Camille Vasquez vowed to appeal the order: “We respectfully disagree with the court’s ruling and are optimistic that the Court of Appeal will agree with us that this case ought to be dismissed.”
An attorney for Abadi did not immediately return a request for comment.
Abadi’s allegations against Elfman — a prolific film composer best known for the famous intro to The Simpsons — were first publicized in a 2023 article from Rolling Stone. The story reported that Elfman had entered into a previously unreported $830,000 settlement in 2018 to resolve her accusations and that Abadi had recently sued him for failing to make payments under that deal.
In the article, Elfman responded with an extensive statement. Calling the allegations “vicious and wholly false,” he described Abadi as having a “childhood crush” on him and intending to “break up my marriage and replace my wife.” Elfman said that when he attempted to distance himself from her, “she made it clear that I would pay for having rejected her.”
Last summer, Abadi added defamation to her list of accusations against Elfman. In a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles court, she claimed that his media statement had falsely tarred her as an “extortionist” and as a “scorned woman seeking revenge and money,” leaving her career as a composer “in tatters.”
“In publicly branding Nomi as a liar, and a failed temptress who lied about him for reasons of revenge and greed, Elfman and his representatives defamed Nomi,” her lawyers wrote at the time.
In moving to dismiss that case, Elfman’s lawyers cited California’s anti-SLAPP statute — a law that aims to make it easier for judges to quickly dismiss cases that threaten protected speech. They argued that the response statement came in a letter threatening to sue Rolling Stone if it published Abadi’s allegations, meaning it was shielded under the litigation privilege rule.
But in her order last month, Judge Killefersaid said Elfman’s letter had been “more than just an attempt to dissuade Rolling Stone from republishing allegations of sexual misconduct.”
“It was an effort to litigate the issue before the court of public opinion, permitting Elfman to publicly deny the veracity of plaintiff’s claims while preemptively hiding behind the litigation privilege to prevent any defamation claim,” the judge wrote.
Judge Killefersaid also rejected other defense arguments from Elfman’s legal team, including their claim that his statement to Rolling Stone had merely been a statement of “opinion” that was not capable of being proven false. To the contrary, the judge ruled that his denial statement was an “assertion of fact” that could potentially put him on the hook for defamation liability.
With the anti-SLAPP motion denied, Abadi’s case against Elfman will now proceed into normal litigation, which could take years to resolve if the case is not settled.
It’s the end of an era in Canada as Justin Trudeau announces he will step down as Prime Minister.
The Liberal Party leader has held the country’s top political office since 2015. He will stay on while the Liberals hold a leadership race, with the winner becoming the next Prime Minister until an election is called.
Justin Trudeau faced calls from inside his party to step down, with his popularity plummeting amidst a year where incumbent leaders have lost elections globally.
“This country deserves a real choice in the next election, and it has become clear to me that if I’m having to fight internal battles, I cannot be the best option in that election,” Trudeau said.
The resignation announcement comes as a major piece of arts legislation, the Online Streaming Act, is being implemented. Trudeau’s government oversaw the passing of the Streaming Act, introduced as Bill C-11, which served as the first major update of Canada’s Broadcasting Act and sought to modernize Canadian arts policy for the digital age.
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A federal election is expected soon, with Conservative Party leader — and recent Jordan Peterson podcast guest — Pierre Poilievre ahead in the polls. Poilievre came out last fall against the Streaming Act’s requirements that major foreign streamers contribute 5% of Canadian revenues to support Canadian content, likening it to a tax.
“Spotify prices are going up thanks to Trudeau,” he posted, alongside a graphic of Trudeau DJing. The regulation does not explicitly mandate streaming services to raise their prices.
It’s unclear what a change in government could mean for implementing legislation like the Online Streaming Act, though Poilievre has promised a generally cuts-heavy approach to public funding.
Last year, Trudeau also announced a $32 million increase in funding to the Canada Music Fund, which supports granting bodies FACTOR and Musicaction, and $31 million in funding for festivals and arts performances. The announcements were welcomed by several industry associations.
In recent years, Trudeau has made headlines for appearing at a handful of concerts in Toronto. After tweeting at Taylor Swift to come to Canada when she first announced the Eras Tour, he later attended with his family at Rogers Centre. When Punjabi star Diljit Dosanjh played the same venue, Trudeau came backstage to congratulate him, recognizing the unique Canadian attendance record. Last year, Canadian songwriter and poet Mustafa penned an open letter to the Prime Minister to protect and speak for the people of Palestine.
While the future of Canadian politics is up in the air, writer John Semley joked on BlueSky that this may have been Trudeau’s savviest political decision: resigning before Kendrick Lamar plays “Not Like Us” at the Superbowl.
This story was originally published by Billboard Canada.