Legal
R&B star Chloe Bailey (performing as Chlöe) has been accused of failing to properly credit and pay a songwriter who worked on her album Trouble in Paradise and of commercially releasing the songs he wrote without his consent, according to court documents filed in the Southern District of New York on Thursday (Feb. 20).
In the lawsuit, filed by attorney Tyrone Blackburn, songwriter Melvin “4rest” Moore alleges that the actions of Bailey, along with her label Parkwood Entertainment and Columbia Records, constitute “copyright infringement, fraudulent misrepresentation, violations of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA), civil conspiracy and deceptive business practices.”
According to the complaint, Bailey “fail[ed] to appropriately credit or compensate” Moore in connection with the songs he worked on for Trouble in Paradise — “Favorite,” “Might As Well” and “Same Lingerie” — which Moore says were written about his own “personal and…lived experiences.” It also claims that Moore “did not grant consent to the commercial exploitation of the [songs]” he wrote for Bailey and that he did not get an opportunity to “engage in good-faith negotiations” with Bailey’s team around contractual terms, citing an email from Moore’s attorney to Bailey’s counsel on Aug. 8, 2024.
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(Records from ASCAP and BMI’s Songview repertory, which contain official accounts about which writers and publishers worked on a given song, indicate that Moore is listed as a writer for “Same Lingerie” and “Might As Well” but not for “Favorite.”)
The lawsuit calls Bailey, Parkwood and Columbia “modern-day swindlers” and claims that Moore’s attorney “repeatedly made good-faith attempts to amicably resolve the matter of [Bailey, Parkwood and Columbia’s] unauthorized commercial exploitation of the works” over the course of “almost 200 days.”
After not being able to reach an agreement, Moore’s attorney says he issued a DMCA takedown notice, asking for the songs Moore worked on to be removed from the internet. The complaint adds that Moore’s team feels their takedown was “willfully and blatantly ignored.”
Moore is asking for monetary damages up to $150,000 for each intentional violation; a court order to stop further commercial use of the songs; a complete investigation of Bailey, Parkwood and Columbia’s revenue from unauthorized use of the songs; repayment of all profits gained from the songs; a requirement for defendants to publicly retract their claims and properly credit Moore; punitive damages of $5 million per song; and any additional relief the court finds appropriate.
Representatives for Bailey, Parkwood and Columbia Records did not respond to Billboard‘s requests for comment by press time.
One of Sean “Diddy” Combs’ attorneys has filed a motion to step down from representing the incarcerated hip-hop mogul. Per court documents filed in the Southern District of New York on Friday (Feb. 21), Anthony Ricco said that while he had “provided Sean Combs with the high level of legal representation expected by the court, […]
A$AP Relli, born Terrell Ephron, has broken his silence after losing his shooting trail against his former friend A$AP Rocky and he addressed the hit his image took from the whole ordeal. Explore Explore See latest videos, charts and news See latest videos, charts and news “Gossiping is a form of entertainment for people who […]
Rihanna was a mainstay in A$AP Rocky’s corner throughout his three-week felony shooting trial, which ended with a not guilty verdict for the Harlem native on Tuesday (Feb. 18), but her presence in the courtroom wasn’t always in the cards.
Rocky’s attorney, Joe Tacopina, revealed following the verdict that his client originally didn’t want Rihanna in attendance at the trial.
“He didn’t want her there. He was very protective of her,” Tacopina told a reporter. “I was sort of supporting his decision to keep her away. The trial’s not about Rihanna.”
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However, RiRi would not be denied. as she went behind Rocky’s back to contact Tacopina and let him know she would be pulling up to court to support her boo. “But she called me one day and she was like, ‘Joe, wild horses aren’t going to keep me away, so let him know I’m coming and deal with him,’” Tacopina continued.
Billboard has reached out to Tacopina, as well as Rihanna and A$AP Rocky’s reps.
Rihanna was a staple at the courthouse, and she even made appearances with their two children, Riot and RZA, alongside Rocky’s mother and sister, who consistently supported the rapper in court.
Tacopina also recently explained to Extra why the little boys were there. “That day was summations, and in theory, what we initially believed, the judge had told us he was gonna start the jury deliberations that day after summations, right after summations. If they came back with a quick verdict — like they did — and it didn’t go his way, that would be the last time he saw his children,” the attorney explained. “So she wanted them in court, in the courtroom … house. One of the, the littlest one, you know, stayed outside. But you know, RZA was inside because he’s a little older and he comported himself very well, and he looked like a sweet little gentleman. … But you know, that’s family. I mean, it’s his family.”
Rocky (born Rakim Mayers) was found not guilty on both counts in the 2021 shooting case involving his former friend and associate A$AP Relli (born Terrell Ephron).
Upon hearing the verdict, Rocky jumped over the railing into the gallery to embrace Rihanna. He then thanked the jury and Judge Mark Arnold. “Thank y’all for saving my life,” Rocky said. “Thank you, thank you. Thank you for making the right decision. Thank you, your honor.”
Rocky was arrested in April 2022 at Los Angeles International Airport after being accused of firing a handgun at Relli near a Hollywood hotel in November 2021. The 36-year-old faced a maximum of 24 years behind bars and pleaded not guilty to all charges in August 2022. Last month, he turned down a final plea deal that would have landed him 180 days in county jail.
Rihanna took to her Instagram Story on Tuesday to celebrate the court’s ruling while giving thanks to the most high. “THE GLORY BELONGS TO GOD AND GOD ALONE! THANKFUL, HUMBLED BY HIS MERCY,” she wrote.
Billboard Unfiltered returned with a new episode on Wednesday (Feb. 19), and instead of the traditional Friday taped release, the crew elected to go with a raw, live version of this week’s show.
Deputy director of R&B/hip-hop Carl Lamarre was back in the saddle after a few weeks off, and he was flanked by staff writer Kyle Denis and senior charts analyst Trevor Anderson.
A$AP Rocky was found not guilty on both counts in the 2021 felony shooting case involving his former friend A$AP Relli (born Terrell Ephron). When the verdict was read, Rocky exhaled and jumped over the railing into the gallery to embrace Rihanna, a moment that quickly went viral on social media.
“Only Rocky and God know the truth here. The way that man was breathing heavy, the way he crowd-surfed over to Ri, he was shaking his boots a little bit,” Denis said. “He got off. I love seeing a brother beat the system.”
Anderson harkened back to right before the trial began, when Rocky shrewdly declined a final plea deal offer, which would have seen him spend 180 days behind bars. “They gambling in that situation and came up big,” he said. “The system played out how it does … Glad they could put this behind them.”
$ome $exy $ongs 4 U arrived on Valentine’s Day, and Denis believes the Drake and PartyNextDoor album didn’t live up to the hype. “I think my biggest issue with the album is it’s really not sexy at all,” he suggested. “Drake using women, love, sex, relationships to get back in the good graces of men whose approval he really wants the most. There’s not much warmth in these songs. Nothing about this makes me want to link with my special somebody and have a night to this album.”
Denis continued: “As a fan, I’ve wanted a Drake-Party album for such a long time, but none of these songs live up to ‘Come and See Me’ or ‘Wednesday Night Interlude.’ … But I don’t think it’s a disaster either.”
Lamarre, a noted OVO fan, thought the album “OK.” “I do wish there was more Party involved,” he said. “Overall, it was OK. There’s probably a good seven or eight songs I will go back. Does this put Drake back in the driver’s seat, culturally speaking? No, it’s still Kendrick.”
Watch the full episode above.
An attorney for The 1975 says frontman Matt Healy and his bandmates cannot be held responsible for the cancellation of the July 2023 Good Vibes Festival in Kuala Lumpur, which was shut down by authorities after Healy kissed one of his male bandmates on stage, violating the country’s ban on same-sex relationships. As a result […]
Sony Music Entertainment is asking a judge to throw out a lawsuit brought against the company by Patrick Moxey‘s Ultra International Music Publishing late last year, claiming the suit was an act of “retaliation” against the major label after it filed its own lawsuit against the publishing outfit two years prior.
Ultra International Music Publishing and Ultra Music Publishing Europe brought the lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment and its subsidiaries — including Ultra Records, which Moxey sold his remaining 50% share of to Sony in 2021 — last November over allegations of copyright infringement, claiming Sony and its affiliates had been using Ultra Publishing’s compositions without a license. Filed in New York federal court, the complaint alleged that Ultra Publishing had conducted an audit finding that Sony had been underpaying royalties to the publisher and its songwriters “for years” — but that after bringing the results of the audit to Sony’s attention, the major label “failed” and “refuse[d]” to pay Ultra Publishing the royalties it was due.
Ultra Publishing claimed that after Sony’s alleged refusal, it ceased granting the music giant licenses to the company’s compositions, but that Sony nonetheless continued uploading tracks featuring Ultra Publishing-owned compositions to streaming services and selling them as digital downloads and physical releases, among other exploitations. The lawsuit concerned more than 50,000 compositions by artists including Ed Sheeran, Madonna, Rihanna and others.
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In its response, filed on Monday (Feb. 17) by attorney Tal Dickstein, Sony Music called the lawsuit “an ill-conceived effort by Plaintiffs — two music publishing companies owned by Patrick Moxey — to retaliate against” Sony Music for an earlier lawsuit it filed against Ultra Publishing for the continued use of the Ultra name. In that complaint, filed in November 2022, Sony attested that Moxey had signed away his rights to the Ultra trademark after selling the company his remaining stake in Ultra Records, which he founded in 1995.
Sony claims Ultra Publishing attempted to justify the “nefarious timing” of its own lawsuit — which allegedly dropped the day before the trial for the trademark lawsuit began — “by claiming this lawsuit stems from an audit of the music publishing royalties that Sony Music Entertainment paid to Plaintiffs.” However, Sony alleges that the audit in question, “which involved payments made by Sony Music Entertainment to Plaintiffs through 2016,” was in fact “settled in principle years ago for a small fraction of the amount claimed, and Plaintiffs never pursued those audit claims any further.”
Sony’s filing goes on to say that it and Ultra Publishing “continued working together after the audit was settled, with Sony Music Entertainment paying publishing royalties on the musical compositions that were the subject of the audit without objection from Plaintiffs, and working to license and pay the corresponding publishing royalties for well over a thousand other compositions owned in whole or in part by Plaintiffs.”
“Sony Music Entertainment’s licensing practices are both appropriate and entirely consistent with the licensing practices of every other leading record label that releases new sound recordings, including record labels that Moxey himself controlled in the past and currently owns,” the filing continues. “Moreover, Plaintiffs’ own songwriters and producers continue to write songs and collaborate with SME artists with the intention and expectation that the resulting sound recordings incorporating the underlying musical compositions will be commercially released — underscoring the obvious question of whether Plaintiffs’ attempted boycott of SME is in their songwriters’ best interest.”
An attorney for Ultra International Music Publishing did not immediately respond to Billboard‘s request for comment.
A$AP Rocky and Rihanna are going above and beyond a simple thank-you note to show their gratitude to Joe Tacopina — the lawyer who successfully led the rapper to a not guilty verdict in his felony shooting trial Tuesday (Feb. 19) — and it has to do with Baby No. 3.
In a video interview with Extra posted one day after the three-week legal proceedings wrapped up in Los Angeles, the attorney revealed that the couple jokingly promised to name their next child after him in celebration of their victory. “Rihanna and Rocky said to me in the courtroom yesterday, they grabbed me and they said, ‘Listen, our next baby is A$AP Joe,’” Tacopina told the outlet, smiling.
In theory, little A$AP Joe Mayers would join older brothers RZA, 2, and Riot, 1 — and Rocky and Rih have every reason to want to honor Tacopina. The Harlem native had been facing up to 24 years in prison over a November 2021 incident in which he’d been accused of firing a gun twice at former friend A$AP Relli, for which he was hit with two felony counts of assault with a firearm.
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But as seen by everyone in the court — and countless fans watching along — Rocky proved to be victorious in his fight against both counts, which he celebrated as soon as his not guilty verdict was read out by sprinting away from the defendant’s stand, jumping straight over a courtroom railing, and wrapping the Fenty mogul in a big hug. “THE GLORY BELONGS TO GOD AND GOD ALONE! THANKFUL, HUMBLED BY HIS MERCY!” Rihanna wrote on Instagram Stories shortly afterward.
Recalling the passionate moment from his POV, Tacopina told Extra, “I look to my right, he’s gone … he was just gone,” the lawyer said, laughing. “I said to my partner, ‘Did he leave?’ … And I see him on top of Rihanna… I couldn’t process quickly enough.”
Tacopina — whom Rocky also christened “A$AP Joe” outside the courthouse after the ruling — went on to share how close he and the two stars have gotten since they started working together on the case. He was even on hand to babysit RZA in 2023 back when Rih was preparing for her Super Bowl halftime show performance.
“All of a sudden, Rocky said, ‘Can you just take care of a baby? I’m getting a pedicure,’” Tacopina recalled. “There was a different type of relationship with him than with most clients.”
Watch Tacopina break down Rocky’s court win below.
Sean “Diddy” Combs‘ attorneys have filed a motion seeking the dismissal of a sex trafficking charge in the hip-hop mogul’s indictment, citing the alleged racist origins of the count. Combs’ legal team, which made the filing official on Tuesday (Feb. 18) in New York federal court, argues that “no white person has ever been the […]
A$AP Rocky was full of emotions in the moment a jury ruled he was not guilty in his 2021 felony shooting case Tuesday (Feb. 18). So much so, he leapt straight over a courtroom barrier into the arms of the first person he wanted to celebrate with: Rihanna. In a news clip from a […]