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50 Cent has reached a settlement with Rémy Martin to end a lawsuit that claimed his Branson brand of cognac copied the design of the company’s bottles.
E. Rémy Martin & Co. sued in 2021, claiming the liquor brand owned by the rapper (real name Curtis Jackson) had infringed patent and trade dress rights by mimicking Rémy’s XO bottle. 50 Cent’s company, Sire Spirits, called the case “meritless” and accused the bigger rival of trying to “destroy a competitor.”
But in a filing on Monday, the two sides said they had squashed their beef — reaching a “confidential” settlement agreement on June 1 that would fully resolve the litigation. The specific terms of the deal, like whether any money was exchanged or products would be changed, were not made public.
On Wednesday, a spokesman for Rémy confirmed to Billboard the agreement would end the case, but declined to offer more details: “Rémy appreciates and respects Mr. Jackson’s entry into the Cognac market and the parties share a common vision for the future of this exceptional and precious spirit. The parties are gratified that this matter could be resolved amicably.”
An attorney for Sire Spirits did not immediately return a request for comment.
50 Cent launched Branson in 2018, selling the cognac in a circular bottle with gem-like facets that was designed by the rapper himself. But in August 2021, Rémy Martin sued on the grounds that the bottle was “nearly indistinguishable” from the “toroidal” shape of its own famous bottle.
“Defendants have willfully and blatantly designed their bottle to unfairly capitalize on the goodwill and reputation that Plaintiff’s bottle has achieved and to unabashedly profit from its bad faith infringement,” the company’s lawyers wrote in their complaint.
Rémy Martin accused the Branson bottle of infringing both design patents and trade dress — a form of trademark that covers the well-known shape or packaging of a product, like a Coca-Cola bottle or blue Tiffany’s box. The lawsuit claimed the bottle was “a blatant attempt” to make consumers think of Rémy Martin.
In October, 50 Cent and Sire fired back, blasting the rival for trying to “eliminate” an upstart competitor and “monopolize the Cognac market.” The company said Rémy Martin’s case was so weak that it should be dismissed at the outset.
“This action is a naked effort to use meritless litigation to financially destroy a competitor,” Sire’s attorneys wrote at the time. “Rémy Martin must be stopped, and the claims against Sire Spirits should not be allowed to survive.”
But in a pair of rulings last year, U.S. District Judge Alvin K. Hellerstein refused to dismiss the case against 50 Cent’s company. “This is not a case in which the claimed and accused designs are so plainly dissimilar that it is implausible that an ordinary observer would confuse them,” the judge wrote at the time.
Those decisions sent the case deeper into litigation and headed toward an eventual trial. But the case has largely been on ice for months as the two sides worked toward the settlement that was reached earlier this month.
Halsey has signed a new recording deal with Columbia Records, the label announced today (June 14). The news comes two months after the singer’s managers announced they had parted ways with Capitol Records after eight years, a decision managers Jason Aron and Anthony Li of Anti-Pop called “bittersweet” at the time. Halsey released four albums […]
Would you rather own the rights to Bruce Springsteen’s song catalog or the musical scores to hit Nickelodeon TV shows such as iCarly, Victorious and Henry Danger?
While those tween comedies may not be household names, fans stream them worldwide, and unlike Springsteen’s masters and publishing rights — which Sony bought for $500 million in 2021 — the rights to their scores sold for tens of millions, presenting, for some, an appealing and approachable investment.The Nickelodeon shows’ music is an example of the kinds of deals being done by a new crop of music investment funds that are focused on acquiring the one type of music they know best, often for a much lower price than the deals making headlines.
Funds like Armada Music’s BEAT (focused on dance), Jamar Chess’ Wahoo Music Fund One (Latin), Singapore’s blackx (the Asian music market) and Multimedia Music (film and TV music) have all launched in roughly the last 18 months with similar aims: to exploit their specialized genre knowledge and industry connections to buy rights to songs in one category and earn a return.
The principals of these funds, which have raised between $100 million (BEAT, blackx) and $200 million (Multimedia) from banks and investment firms, say the primary difference between them and funds like Primary Wave and Hipgnosis, which have institutional and private equity backing, is that their success hinges on a lower cost of entry and therefore present less risk.
“It’s a niche within a niche,” says Phil Hope, founder/CEO of Multimedia Music, which recently bought the music income and copyrights to scores from the Nickelodeon shows. “People see that there’s a well-priced opportunity in what we’re doing. Is it as obvious or as sexy as buying a big artist’s catalog? It needs a bit of explaining.”
Each fund faces its own challenges, but in an investment class, where the slowing of streaming growth and high interest rates are prompting greater investor scrutiny, these funds present the next natural step, says Bob Valentine, president of Concord. “We are now at the evolution stage of the investment thesis,” says Valentine, who will become Concord’s CEO in July. “There is still supersize growth in some of these genres — like Latin, dance, EDM. Investment managers are thinking, ‘The cost of capital is going up. Let’s find the genres that are going to outpace that index trend. Then, if the cost of capital goes up, we still outpace it.’ ”
Founded in late 2021 by Hope and James Gibb, Multimedia Music has acquired the rights to dozens of film and TV scores, including James Newton Howard’s catalog (Pretty Woman, Fantastic Beasts and the Hunger Games films), the STX music library catalog (Bad Moms, The Foreigner) and in-demand composers like Tyler Bates (the Guardians of the Galaxy and John Wick franchises, Deadpool 2).Multimedia has raised $200 million in debt and investment from Metropolitan Partners, Pinnacle Financial Partners and others to buy the rights to film and TV music that is reliably played — whether streamed, broadcast or licensed by filmmakers.
“Initially, investors were excited but didn’t understand it. They kept saying, ‘I don’t know who’s going to be streaming film and TV music on Spotify,’ ” Gibb says. “What we’re looking at are the TV shows and films that have longevity so that every time they get played anywhere in the world, we get streaming royalties paid back to us.”
Chess, whose Latin music-focused Wahoo Music Fund One launched in 2022, says he also spends time educating prospective investors. “You’re buying into cultural artifacts and less into a net publisher’s share of now. That’s why it’s a good deal,” says Chess, whose grandfather, Leonard Chess, co-founded Chicago’s legendary Chess Records.
Last year, Wahoo acquired a 50% stake in the publishing and recording catalog of Oro Solido, a classic merengue group, for an undisclosed amount. Chess says he is in talks to acquire two more catalogs that are also considered classics in the Latin genre — a status that makes them marketable for new recordings and sampling by current Latin artists.
But despite the surging popularity of Latin American music — recorded-music revenue grew by nearly 26% in Latin America last year, according to IFPI — Chess says investor interest is still lagging.“We are not competing against a Sony buying [Bad Bunny’s label] Rimas,” says Chess, who is also president of Spirit Music Latino. “There is a wealth of opportunity across the [Latin American] territories, and sometimes lining up investors can be a challenge.”
BEAT Music Fund was launched in April by independent dance music label Armada Music. Its first acquisitions were rights belonging to artists it has ties to, like Detroit techno forefather Kevin Saunderson’s KMS Records and Russian DJ ARTY. BEAT enters the investment space at a time when the global dance music industry grew by 34% to $11.3 billion in revenue in 2022. Its fan base is also growing 10 times faster than hip-hop on TikTok, according to a new report from MIDiA Research.
“Our plan is to invest $100 million in its first two years and increase the investment to at least $500 million in coming years,” says Nadine van Bodegraven, COO for the fund. “Our goal is to announce at least one new deal every month this year.”
Bay Area-based record label, distributor and publisher EMPIRE has named Alexandra Moore its new chief business officer, the company announced today (June 14). In her new role, Moore will be leading business and revenue-driving initiatives, overseeing content distribution, e-commerce, business development, mergers and acquisitions and the company’s international expansion, which has recently extended to Japan, […]
Spanish star Alejandro Sanz, widely recognized as one of the leading singer/songwriters in Spanish language music, has signed a recording deal with Sony Music, Billboard has exclusively learned.
Sanz inked his new contract June 13 in Madrid, with Afo Verde, chairman/CEO of Sony Music Latin-Iberia, and José María Barbat, president of Sony Music Iberia.
“Happy to join the Sony Music family, a company where I have many friends which whom I share LOVE for MUSIC [sic]. I’m sure together we will have fun doing what we love most,” said Sanz, who holds the record for having the best-selling and second best-selling albums in Spain’s history: 1997’s Más and 2000’s El Alma Al Aire, respectively.
“We’re very honored and excited to welcome Alejandro to Sony Music and deeply hope this will be a very happy stage in his life,” said Verde. “It will no doubt be a thrill for us to work together with this marvelous artist, not only because of his professional excellence but also his human qualities.”
Sanz has won four Grammy awards and 25 Latin Grammys — the most for a Spanish artist — in his storied career, which includes 18 albums that have sold over 25 million copies, according to his label. He has also collaborated with a long string of artists, from Shakira to Alicia Keys, and was one of Rosalía’s early supporters, and is also known for his social activism and his work with organizations like Save The Children and Doctors Without Borders.
“Beyond his uncommon talent, Alejandro is an amazing person,” added Barbat, citing Sanz’s multiple collaborations, and the fact that he was one of Rosalía’s early advocates.
Originally signed to Warner Music, where he remained for over a decade, Sanz became an international star with 1997’s Más, which boasted global hit “Corazón Partío,” a track that managed to blend his Spanish pop with tinges of flamenco and exceptional lyrics. Sanz quickly became a model to follow in terms of musicality and commercial appeal, and developed close friendships with artists like Shakira and Carlos Vives. He also became a top touring act; his current Sanz en Vivo tour includes over 60 dates that already saw him play throughout Latin America, followed by Spain in June, July and August and the U.S. and Mexico in the Fall.
In 2011, left Warner for Universal Music, where he remained up until now.
Then, last year, Sanz signed an unorthodox management agreement with two separate executives, each of them focused on a different area of his career. Alex Mizrahi, who heads management and promotion company OCESA-Seitrack, now oversees Sanz’s international management and business; and Iñigo Zabala, the former president of Warner Music Iberia and Latin America, and the person who originally signed Sanz to Warner years ago, oversees his recording career and creative output.
Those changes have now led to Sony Music.
“Dear Alex, thanks for your trust,” Verde said to Sanz. “Thanks to you and your beautiful team: Iñigo Zabala, Alex Mizrahi and Octavio Padilla. Welcome home. From the bottom of my heart. This is just beginning.”
Senior figures from Believe, Warner Music, Google/YouTube, AEG and Primary Wave are among the first wave of speakers confirmed for All That Matters 2023, set for this September in Singapore.
Among those VIPs are Denis Ladegaillerie, founder and CEO of Believe; Paul Smith, managing director, YouTube Music, APAC; Marshall Nu, COO, Asia, Anschutz Entertainment Group; and Arica Ng, president, Asia Pacific, Warner Chappell Music.
This year’s ATM celebrates its “coming of age” 18th edition. Artificial intelligence (AI) “will be a burning issue that will weave itself through a lot of our conversations,” reads a statement from organizers Branded, the full-service live media specialist.
More than 2,000 guests turn up in a regular year for the event, which creates an umbrella conference featuring complementary tracks of music, sports, gaming, marketing, digital, Web3, and arts, all under one roof.
Widely considered the most important music conference in Asia, All That Matters will once again be held at the Singapore Hilton Orchard from Sept. 11-13.
Confirmed speakers in the first round include reps from FIFA Women’s World Cup 2023, Napster, The Raine Group, Microsoft, NODWIN Gaming, VSPO, Coca-Cola, Activision Blizzard, Mastercard, Animoca Brands, SoundCloud, Asia Sports Tech, World Federation of Advertisers, Enjinstarter and more.
The 2022 edition featured guest speakers Universal Music Group Lucian Grainge; Spotify’s global head of editorial Sulinna Ong; TikTok’s global head of music Ole Obermann; and Adam Wilkes, president, AEG Presents Asia Pacific, among others.
Earlier this year, the Singapore subsidiary of Nodwin acquired a 51% stake in Branded, bringing the confab and showcase event into the Nodwin Gaming family.
Click here for more on All That Matters.
Tory Lanez’s sentencing for shooting and wounding hip-hop star Megan Thee Stallion was delayed on Tuesday. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge David Herriford accepted the defense’s request to delay Lanez’s sentencing, which is now scheduled for Aug. 7. Prosecutors are seeking a 13 year prison sentence and Lanez faces deportation to his native Canada. Herriford […]
The Silversun Pickups are returning to Southern California for their second visit in less than a year, performing at the new Bellwether music venue in Los Angeles on Sept. 27.
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The critically acclaimed LA-based indie rock group, led by vocalist and guitarist Brian Aubert, along with bassist Nikki Monninger, drummer Christopher Guanlao and keyboardist Joe Lester, are touring in support of their sixth studio album Physical Thrills. Released in August, Physical Thrills is Silversun Pickups second album produced by legendary American musician, songwriter, and record producer Butch Vig and is the third album to be released on their own label, New Machine Recordings.
Much of the music on Physical Thrills was written by Aubert during the pandemic and, earlier this month, the band announced the release their new EP Acoustic Thrills, featuring acoustic tracks from Physical Thrills: “Scared Together,” “Empty Nest” and “Alone on a Hill.”
“After building so many layers on the album it felt great to strip these songs down to their rawest form,” Monninger said in a press release announcing the album.
Yesterday, the Silversun Pickups announced a Sept. 29 concert at The Show inside of Agua Caliente in Rancho Mirage, Calif., near Palm Springs. Best known for their 2006 songs “Lazy Eye” and “Well Thought Out Twinkles” both of which made the top 10 of the Billboard Modern Rock Tracks chart in 2007, and their 2009 track “Panic Switch,” Silversun Pickups last played Los Angeles on Oct. 3 at the Orpheum Theater.
The Bellwether, a 1,600-capacity GA venue and joint venture between leading U.S. indie concert promoter Another Planet Entertainment and Teragram Ballroom owner Michael Swier, opens July 11 with a show from Phantogram. Located at 333 S. Boylston Street, the Bellwether’s opening run of shows includes two performances from HAIM (July 17-18), three nights of Porter Robinson (July 28-30), three nights with Carly Rae Jepson (Aug 12-14) and two nights with Isiah Rashad, August 17-18.
For a complete list of shows at the Bellwether, click here. For Silversun Pickup tickets at the Bellwether on Sept. 27, which go on sale June 16, click here. For Silversun Pickup tickets on Sept. 29 at The Show, click here.
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 man who unsuccessfully sued Cardi B over an album cover agrees to repay her $350,000 legal bill; Kesha wins a major appellate ruling in her ongoing defamation battle with Dr. Luke; Dua Lipa’s copyright accusers drop their case for good; and much more.
Want to get The Legal Beat newsletter in your email inbox every Tuesday? Subscribe here for free.
THE BIG STORY: Don’t Mess With Cardi B (Or Her Lawyers)
Omar Little, the notorious Baltimore stick-up man who robs drug dealers on HBO’s The Wire, once famously said: “You come at the king, you best not miss.” Well, that same sentiment seems to be increasingly true about Cardi B and her team of lawyers: If you come at her, you better be sure you’re ready for the consequences.
Back in 2017, a guy named Kevin Brophy did exactly that, suing the superstar for millions in damages. His case claimed that Cardi had left him “humiliated” after an image of his enormous back tattoo was inadvertently photoshopped onto the “raunchy” cover of her debut mixtape, Gangsta Bitch Music, Vol. 1.
But now, six years later, it’s Brophy who’s paying Cardi, not the other way around.
Months after a federal jury rejected his lawsuit, Brophy agreed this week to hand over a whopping $350,000 in legal bills that the superstar spent defeating his case. He also agreed to voluntarily end his efforts to revive the case and waived any chance at a future appeal.
Why would he do all that? Go read our full story here to find out.
For Cardi, turning the tables on Brophy is just the latest financial trouncing of a legal opponent.
Late last month, a gossip blogger named Tasha K who made salacious claims against the rapper was forced to file for bankruptcy after Cardi B won more than $3 million in a defamation lawsuit against her. Shortly after Cardi won that verdict, she tweeted “imma come for everything” along with the acronym BBHMM — “bitch better have my money” — and then spent months chasing the cash, including seizing money from Tasha’s YouTube royalty account.
The takeaway? At least when it comes to legal matters: You come at the queen, you best not miss.
Other top stories this week…
KESHA v. DR. LUKE RULING – New York’s top appeals court handed a key victory to Kesha in her legal battle with Dr. Luke, making it more difficult for him to prove at a looming trial that she defamed the producer when she accused him of rape in 2014. The court said Dr. Luke was a “public figure,” meaning he will need to show that Kesha acted with “actual malice” when she made her statements — a notoriously difficult legal hurdle to clear.
DUA LIPA CASE CLOSED – A Florida reggae band called Artikal Sound System decided to drop its copyright case accusing Dua Lipa of copying her smash hit song “Levitating” from their earlier track. The move — a unilateral capitulation, not a confidential cash settlement — came just days after a federal judge cast serious doubt on whether Artikal would be able to prove that Lipa ever even heard the song she was accused of stealing.
JIMMIE ALLEN SUED AGAIN – The country star was hit with a second sexual abuse lawsuit, claiming he assaulted a woman in a Las Vegas hotel room and filmed the encounter without permission. The case came a month after Allen was accused of sexually harassing and raping a woman on his management team. Allen has strongly denied the allegations and has vowed to “mount a vigorous defense.”
TORY LANEZ SENTENCING – Los Angeles prosecutors formally asked a judge to impose a 13-year prison sentence on Tory Lanez after he was convicted last year of shooting Megan Thee Stallion, telling a judge that Lanez had “waged a campaign to humiliate and re-traumatize the victim” in the wake of the 2020 incident. Sentencing had been set for this week but was rescheduled to Aug 7.
MUSIC AS SEX DISCRIMINATION – The Ninth Circuit issued a first-of-its-kind ruling that said blasting music with “sexually graphic” and “violently misogynistic” lyrics in a workplace could violate federal discrimination laws. Reviving a case against a company that played songs like Too $hort‘s “Blowjob Betty” and Eminem‘s “Stan” at its Nevada warehouse, the court said the music potentially created a “hostile or abusive environment.”
COURT RIPS BAD SETTLEMENT – In another big music ruling, the Ninth Circuit overturned a class action settlement in a royalties lawsuit against the relaunched Napster, sharply criticizing an “unreasonable” deal that secured just $53,000 for songwriters while paying their lawyers a whopping $1.7 million in legal fees. The court said that paying attorneys “more than 30 times the amount that the class received” was likely to “make the average person shake her head in disbelief.”
YOUTUBE CASE DROPPED – Just a day before it had been set to go to trial, a Grammy Award-winning composer dropped her closely-watched lawsuit against YouTube over access to its anti-piracy tools like Content ID. The ruling came weeks after a federal judge gutted the case by refusing to let it move forward as a class action — a ruling the composer had said would “gravely undermine” the goals of her lawsuit.
ASTROWORLD GAG ORDER STANDS – A Texas appeals court refused to lift a strict gag order on the lawsuit over the deadly 2021 disaster at Travis Scott‘s Astroworld festival. The court was unmoved by arguments from ABC News, which argued that the “sweeping” restrictions clearly violated the First Amendment’s protections on free speech and had created a “news desert” in which almost no reliable information about an important case is being shared with the public.
COVID RELIEF HIJINKS? The owners of a small Palm Springs, Calif., venue filed a lawsuit against Marc Geiger and his company SaveLive, claiming the former WME agent deceived them into accepting an investment in their venue during the COVID-19 pandemic as part of a ruse to take over the business without paying a fair price.
New York’s top appeals court on Tuesday (June 13) handed a key victory to Kesha in her legal battle with Dr. Luke, making it more difficult for him to prove at a looming trial that she defamed the producer when she accused him of rape in 2014.
For years, Dr. Luke (full name Lukasz Gottwald) has claimed that the star legally defamed him with the “false and shocking” allegation that he drugged and raped her after a 2005 party, arguing she did so as leverage to secure a more lucrative deal.
But in a ruling on Tuesday, New York’s Court of Appeal ruled that Dr. Luke is legally a “public figure,” meaning he will need to show that Kesha (full name Kesha Rose Sebert) acted with “actual malice” when she made her statements — a notoriously difficult legal hurdle to clear.
“By 2014, when Gottwald initiated this defamation action, he was, by his own account, a celebrity — an acclaimed music producer who had achieved enormous success in a high-profile career,” the appeals court wrote. “He purposefully sought media attention for himself, his businesses, and for the artists he represented, including Sebert, to advance those business interests.”
To show that Kesha acted with “actual malice,” Dr. Luke will now need to prove at trial next month that she either knew her accusation was false or that she acted with a reckless disregard for the truth. That standard, created by the U.S. Supreme Court in a famous 1964 ruling for the New York Times, has made it extremely challenging for powerful people to file libel lawsuits in U.S. courts.
And that wasn’t the only win for Kesha in Tuesday’s decision. The appeals court also ruled that New York’s newly-enacted “anti-SLAPP” law applies to Dr. Luke’s case — meaning that if she beats the accusations, she can demand that he repay some of her legal bills.
“Sebert may assert a counterclaim under [the anti-SLAPP law] and, if successful, recover costs, attorney’s fees, and damages based on Gottwald’s continuation of this action following the [the statute’s] effective date,” the court wrote.
Though largely a victory for Kesha, part of the ruling did go in favor of Dr. Luke. The court largely refused to endorse Kesha’s arguments that many of the allegedly defamatory statements were shielded by so-called privileges — such as statements made ahead of litigation. For 20 of 25 such statements, the court ruled that a jury might side with Dr. Luke and find the statements fair game.
In a statement to Billboard, Dr. Luke’s lawyer Christine Lepera focused on those aspects of the ruling and said she and her team were still “fully confident that Mr. Gottwald will prevail at trial on his defamation claims.”
“We are pleased that the Court of Appeals agreed with Dr. Luke that the vast majority of Ms. Sebert’s statements are properly the subject of his defamation claim,” Lepera said. “Therefore, at trial, Ms. Sebert will be required to defend her harmful and long-standing press campaign against Mr. Gottwald.”
An attorney for Kesha did not immediately return a request for comment.
After nearly eight years of litigation, a trial in Dr. Luke’s lawsuit is scheduled to finally start on July 19. The trial had been repeatedly pushed back while both sides awaited Tuesday’s ruling by the Court of Appeals.
Read the entire ruling here: