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Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ son, 29-year-old Justin Combs, was arrested for DUI in Los Angeles this weekend. A spokesperson for the LAPD confirmed to Billboard on Monday morning (June 5) that the younger Combs was taken into custody on Sunday morning on a misdemeanor DUI charge. At press time no additional information was available on the […]
Music streaming giant Spotify is making a new round of cuts to its podcast division following a broad round of layoffs in January and job cuts in October. In a memo to staff Monday morning from Sahar Elhabashi, the head of Spotify’s podcast unit, the company said that it would be reducing its workforce by […]
Shares of iHeartMedia jumped 30.5% to $3.12 this week, making the radio giant the best-performing stock on the Billboard Global Music Index. The company gained 25.3% on Friday (June 2) without any clear signal — such as an SEC filing or earnings release — to drive such a sharp movement. On Thursday, CEO Bob Pittman […]
The band OK Go has reached a confidential settlement to end a bizarre legal battle with Post Foods over a new line of on-the-go cereal packages called “OK Go!”
Just months after OK Go — a power pop band best known for its viral music videos — vowed to fight back against a “big corporation” that “chose to steal the name of our band to market disposable plastic cups of sugar to children,” attorneys for both sides asked a Minnesota federal judge to dismiss the lawsuit permanently, with each side paying their own legal bills.
The filing said that the two sides had “settled this action on terms agreeable to all parties,” but did not include specific terms of the agreement in public court records, like whether the band would be paid or if Post would change the brand name. Neither side immediately returned requests for comment on Friday (June 2).
The settlement will resolve an unusual legal dispute that pitted a pop band against a multinational food company, asking the question: Will consumers who see a portable snack package of Fruity Pebbles on a supermarket shelf think that a band with a similar name had endorsed it?
The fight started in September when an attorney for the band sent a cease-and-desist letter warning Post that OK Go was “surprised and alarmed” to see Post’s new product line. He claimed the name infringed the trademark rights to the band’s name since it would “suggest to consumers that OK Go is endorsing Post’s products,” or falsely imply that the cereal company had received permission to use it.
“Our client regards this matter with the utmost seriousness and has authorized us to take all steps necessary in any venue to protect its rights,” OK Go’s attorney wrote in the September letter. “If we do not hear from you within 10 days of the date of this letter, we will assume that Post does not wish to resolve this matter amicably.”
A week later, an attorney representing Post responded, saying that the company must “respectfully disagree” with the band’s accusations. The attorney argued that rock music and breakfast cereal were “clearly unrelated” products and that the phrase “OK Go” was merely a common term that had previously been used by many other companies on their products.
In January, Post took the battle to court, asking a federal judge for what’s known as a “declaratory judgment” — meaning a pre-emptive ruling that the company did nothing wrong. Post argued that the trademark rights of a rock band like OK Go don’t extend to an unrelated product like cereal and that the new cups are clearly marked with Post’s own brand names to avoid any confusion.
“Without resolution by this court, Post will be unfairly forced to continue investing in its new OK GO! brand while under the constant threat of unfounded future litigation by defendants,” the cereal company wrote in its lawsuit.
In a statement to Billboard at the time, the members of OK Go said they’d been surprised to learn of Post’s lawsuit.
“A big corporation chose to steal the name of our band to market disposable plastic cups of sugar to children. That was an unwelcome surprise, to say the least,” the band wrote. “But then they sue US about it? Presumably, the idea is that they can just bully us out of our own name, since they have so much more money to spend on lawyers? I guess that’s often how it works, but hopefully, we’ll be the exception.”
According to Post’s lawsuit, the company had offered to pay the band as part of a “good faith effort” to resolve the dispute without resorting to litigation, despite its belief that the accusations lacked legal merit. The company claimed OK Go rejected that offer and made no counter-proposal, leaving Post with no choice but to file a lawsuit.
Steve Butler was named head of legal & business affairs, North America at Warner Chappell Music. Butler will support the publisher’s U.S. (including Nashville and U.S. Latin) and Canadian markets while working closely with various departments to ensure cohesion across its North American operations. He will continue reporting to Warner Chappell executive vp/global head of legal & business affairs Peter Rosenthal. Butler was previously senior vp of legal & business affairs; among other deals, he oversaw the company’s purchase of David Bowie‘s catalog.
Warner Music Group’s WMX announced several new hires: Karl Walsh as executive vp/head of global commerce; Brian Furano as global head of A&R; and Robbie Owens-Russo as senior vp of creative services. Additionally, the company announced the following promotions: Tracy Stone to head of artist and fan experiences, North America; Bob Workman to head of WMX artist & fan experience, UK & rest of the world/senior vp of international artist & brand partners; and Angela Nguyen to head of global commercial operations. The new appointments mark a major overhaul of WMX’s merchandise, commerce, partnerships and ops teams. Walsh can be reached at Karl.Walsh@wmg.com, Furano can be reached at Brian.Furano@wmg.com, Owens-Russo can be reached at robbie.owens-russo@wmg.com, Stone can be reached at Tracy.Stone@wmg.com and Workman can be reached at Bob.Workman@warnermusic.com.
David Loiterton was hired as president, Indo-Pacific at Primary Wave Music. Based in Hong Kong, Loiterton will be tasked with managing the company’s catalog while driving investment in music IP across the region, particularly in India, Japan, Korea, China and Australia as well as emerging Southeast Asian markets. He can be reached at dloiterton@primarywave.com.
SESAC Performing Rights promoted Erin Collins to senior vp of film/TV creative services. The Billboard 2022 Women in Music honoree will continue overseeing SESAC’s network of composers and publishers.
Independent dance label Armada Music announced several new hires and promotions: Madeleine van Schendel was named chief growth officer; Jop Bonnike was promoted to COO; and Michel Peek was promoted to GM of publishing. Additionally, Nadine van Bodegraven moved from Armada’s executive team to join its investment company BEAT as COO.
Attorney Kenneth T. Deutsch joined law firm Paul Hastings as a partner and global co-chair of its entertainment and media practice. He joins from Latham & Watkins, where he served as global co-chair of the firm’s entertainment, sports and media group.
Island Records announced the promotions of Hannah Colson to director of artist development and Sam Lunn to director of strategic marketing.
MNRK Music Group promoted Brandon Squar to GM and Ebrahim “Abe” Rasheed to senior vp of urban. Squar will oversee commerce, marketing, project management and publicity for the company’s artists while Rasheed will spearhead all efforts in A&R and artist development for MNRK’s urban roster.
Tamaya Petteway was named senior vp of partnerships at Dick Clark Productions, where she will be tasked with securing brand partnerships across the company’s live event programming, including the American Music Awards, the Country Music Awards, the Billboard Music Awards, Dick Clark’s New Year’s Rockin’ Eve, the Streamy Awards, So You Think You Can Dance and The Golden Globes. Petteway joins the company from Endemol Shine North America, where she most recently served as senior vp of brand partnerships, licensing and digital.
Ariana White was promoted to vp of publicity at Atlantic Records. She currently handles publicity for Atlantic signees Kali, Mahalia, Rico Nasty, Ckay, No Cap and Quando Rondo, among others.
The Black Music Action Coalition and Audiomack announced a paid internship and mentorship program designed to discover the next generation of Black executives in the music industry and named several executives as mentors. They are: Artistry Group CEO Max Gousee, The Blueprint Group CMO/partner Al Branch, Biz 3 Publicity CEO Kathryn Frazier, CAA agent Yves Pierre, 10Q Management CEO Lydia Asrat and AEG talent buyer Marcus “Don Dada” Johnson. Prospective candidates to the program can apply here.
Troy Skabelund joined artist financing company beatBread as CFO. Skabelund is also founder/CEO of the small business consulting network Advisory Zone.
Boutique entertainment law firm Ritholz Levy Fields promoted three attorneys to partner: Cody Brown (New York), Jenna Harris (Nashville) and Dan Zupnick (New York). Brown can be reached at cbrown@rlfllp.com, Harris can be reached at jharris@rlfllp.com and Zupnick can be reached at dzupnick@rlfllp.com.
Lauren Kreisler was promoted to director of brand & digital for the Official Charts Company in the UK, a newly created role. Her expanded role comes ahead of the company’s refreshed brand identity and consumer-facing digital platform in the coming weeks. Kreisler can be reached at lauren@officialcharts.com.
Anna Desalu was named vp of commerce and sales at record label Blac Noize! (Big Machine/SB Projects), where she will lead streaming initiatives for the company’s roster, including by cultivating digital partnerships and editorial placement. She joins the company from Warner Music Group/Atlantic Records’ Asylum Records, where she was director of sales and commerce.
Audioshake co-founder/CEO Jessica Powell has joined the advisory board of digital music distribution platform Octiive, joining SoundCloud chief product officer Rohit Agarwal and Meta head of UK and Ireland venture capital & partnerships Rowly Bourne.
HYBE is reportedly in talks with investors to raise around $380 million (500 billion won) to fund acquisitions outside of the South Korean entertainment market, according to a report by Bloomberg. The agency and entertainment company is exploring taking on strategic and financial investments in exchange for equity, the outlet reported Thursday, citing sources who […]
A month after Ed Sheeran won a high-profile jury verdict that his “Thinking Out Loud” did not infringe Marvin Gaye‘s “Let’s Get It On,” his copyright accusers have formally launched their appeal.
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The heirs of Ed Townsend — who co-wrote the iconic song with Gaye – filed a so-called notice of appeal Thursday in Manhattan federal court, the first step toward asking a federal appeals court (the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit) to overturn the outcome and revive their lawsuit against Sheeran.
The upcoming appellate battle will mark the next chapter in nearly seven years of litigation over “Thinking Out Loud” — a commercial and critical success that hit No. 2 on the Hot 100 before eventually winning the Grammy Award for song of the year.
In their suit, Kathryn Townsend Griffin and other Townsend heirs claimed that Sheeran had “knowingly and intentionally infringed” the earlier tune, stealing the “heart” from one of the most “instantly recognizable songs in R&B history.”
The two songs at issue in the case do sound similar, as even Sheeran has seemingly acknowledged: The star was captured on video at a 2014 concert toggling back and forth between them, drawing huge applause from the audience. But his lawyers say that’s simply because the two tracks share commonplace musical building blocks – elements that are free for all to use and cannot be “monopolized” under copyright law.
After years of delay, the case finally went to trial in April. Lawyers for the Townsends urged the jurors to “give credit where credit is due,” playing that concert video of Sheeran and calling it a “smoking gun.” But Sheeran’s lawyers, supported by testimony from the star himself that included a brief guitar performance, argued the star had done nothing wrong by using “the scaffolding on which all songwriting is built.”
On May 4, jurors sided with Sheeran, finding that he and his co-writer had independently created “Thinking Out Loud” without copying it from “Let’s Get It On” and clearing him of millions in potential legal damages.
A verdict against the singer would have reverberated throughout the music industry, much like an infamous 2015 verdict against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams over their megahit “Blurred Lines,” which made musicians and companies more cautious about similar-sounding songs. Instead, his case represents the latest lawsuit in which such claims were rejected, following a 2020 ruling on Led Zeppelin’s “Stairway To Heaven” and a 2022 ruling on Katy Perry’s “Dark Horse.”
Thursday’s motion – procedural first step in any appeal in federal court – does not include detailed arguments; those will be filed later at the Second Circuit. But they will likely include challenges to what evidence the judge allowed to be used in the case and how he conducted the trial in April. Such appeals typically face an uphill climb, particularly when a case was decided by a jury rather than by a judge.
Briefs will be filed at the Second Circuit in the coming months. It could take the court well over a year to issue a final ruling.
Luminate has been the music industry’s data authority for over three decades. As the company readies the launch of a more sophisticated platform, its leaders discuss the past, present and future of the operation — and how they’ve kept pace with the evolving business. PAST – Starting with the launch of SoundScan in 1991, Luminate “has continued to […]
For 2023, Billboard has introduced the Country Power Players’ Choice Award, a peer-voted accolade chosen by Billboard Pro members to honor the executive they believe has made the most impact across the country music business over the past year. Across three rounds of voting, Billboard Pro members have chosen Seth England, partner and CEO of […]
A paparazzo is suingKanye West over an alleged incident in which the rapper grabbed her phone and threw it into traffic, according to court documents obtained by Billboard.
Photographer Nichol Lechmanik is suing West (sometimes known as Ye) for assault, battery, negligence and interference with the exercise of her civil rights following the alleged altercation, which occurred on the afternoon of Jan. 27 outside Sports Academy in Newbury Park, Calif., per the complaint filed in California Superior Court in Ventura County on Wednesday (May 31).
Lechmanik alleges that while driving her car and filming Ye’s ex-wife Kim Kardashian as she exited the facility, she noticed that West was “angrily confronting” another photographer on the street outside. “Given Defendant Ye’s reputation for violence against photographers, his history of physically harming them, and based on his threatening body language, Plaintiff became fearful for the photographer’s safety,” the complaint reads. It states that Lechmanik then began filming the incident on her phone from inside her car with the window open.
Lechmanik alleges that Ye then walked up to her car and “aggressively” said, “You all ain’t gonna run up on me like that,” and when she replied that she wasn’t, he became “enraged,” reached into her car and “ripped her phone out of her hands” before throwing it “onto the street towards oncoming traffic.”
According to the lawsuit, Lechmanik said the incident caused her “great mental, and emotional pain and suffering” and that she “anticipates incurring medical and related expenses.”
Lechmanik is requesting general and special damages, punitive and exemplary damages, civil penalties and costs of the suit. Additionally, she’s asking for an order enjoining West and “all persons acting in concert with him or acting on his behalf, from touching, striking, annoying, contacting, molesting, attacking, threatening, or otherwise interfering with…the Plaintiff, and all persons similarly situated, to pursue the occupation of photographer.”
West has a long history of legal scuffles with paparazzi that stem all the way back to 2008 when he was arrested at Los Angeles International Airport after breaking the flash of a paparazzo’s camera.