Legal
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Sean Diddy Combs has maintained his innocence in the lawsuits and sexual assault allegations made against him. Now, he’s appeared to double down with a cryptic message posted to his Instagram account on Tuesday (May 14). “Time tells truth,” the message reads, which he captioned simply with, “Love.” Diddy didn’t turn off his comments section, […]
The National Music Publishers Association (NMPA) has sent a cease and desist letter to Spotify for allegedly hosting lyrics, music videos and podcast content that contain their members’ copyrighted musical works without proper licenses. The organization, which represents music publishers in the U.S., says that it “demands” that these alleged unlicensed works “be removed from the platform or Spotify will face copyright liability for continued use of these works.”
The letter comes a week after Billboard released an estimate, claiming that Spotify will pay about $150 million less in U.S. mechanical royalties to music publishers and songwriters in the next year than what publishers and songwriters were previously expecting. This is because Spotify added audiobooks into its premium, family and duo plans, and the company claims that the move now qualifies them as a bundle, which pays a discounted royalty rate from normal standalone subscriptions, given Spotify now has to pay for books and music from the same subscription price.
The cease and desist letter, obtained by Billboard, covers a separate issue to last week’s announcement, but the timing suggests the NMPA is hoping to push back against Spotify’s practices on several fronts. The letter continues: “Spotify appears to be engaged in direct infringement by hosting unlicensed musical works in its lyrics, videos and podcasts and by distributing unauthorized reproductions, synchronizations, displays and derivative sues of these musical works to its users. Making matters worse, Spotify profits from such infringement.”
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Written by NMPA’s executive vp and general counsel Danielle Aguirre, the letter did not cite any specific unlicensed works or say how many instances there are of unlicensed works on Spotify and warned about both unlicensed works as well as works that “will soon become unlicensed” by its members. When asked for a list or a ballpark number of the unlicensed works, NMPA declined to comment. If the NMPA ever gets to the point of filing a lawsuit against Spotify for these alleged offenses, however, the organization would then provide more detail.
Many music publishers currently have licenses in place with Spotify for their lyrics and video content. Unlike the government-regulated process of setting U.S. mechanical royalty rates, lyric and video licenses are direct deals between the publisher and the streaming service, and each negotiation is unique, but for lyrics specifically, some publishers will license through third party aggregators like Lyric Find. These deals are not considered to be major money makers for publishers or streamers, and although their duration can vary, the licenses typically run for 1-2 years, according to a source close to the matter.
The NMPA also cites a recent Wall Street Journal article that claimed Spotify is working on tools that would allow subscribers to “speed up, mash up and otherwise edit songs from their favorite artists” in its letter to Spotify, warning the streaming platform that if “any such feature” is released by Spotify “without the proper licenses in place from our members” it “may constitute additional direct infringement.”
Spotify and the NMPA have a history of not getting along, but since late 2022, it appeared the two were on relatively good terms. After a contentious five years of back-and-forth over how to set the U.S. mechanical royalty rate for streaming for 2018-2022, the NMPA, Nashville Songwriters Association International (NSAI) and streaming services, like Spotify, came together to collectively settle the next rate period together (2023-2027), hoping to avoid another lengthy and costly fight. The result was something David Israelite, president and CEO of the NMPA, touted at the time as the “highest streaming rates in the history of digital streaming,” due to a raise in the headline rate.
Part of the compromise for that settlement, however, included an update to how bundles were treated, which was considered a potential benefit to streaming services. As the Association of Independent Music Publishers (AIMP) put it in their statement against Spotify’s bundling practices, music publishers believe Spotify used a “loophole” to “circumvent the [Copyright Royalty Board] settlement.” Israelite went further, calling the bundle reclassification a “potentially unlawful move” when it was first announced, even though Spotify believes it rightfully qualifies. Recently, the NMPA admitted a lawsuit against Spotify for bundling was “likely.”
Read the full letter below:
Dear Mr. Kaefer [vp and global head, music and audiobook business] and Ms. Konstan [general counsel of Spotify]:
I write on behalf of the National Music Publishers’ Association (“NMPA”) regarding copyright infringement of our members’ musical works on the Spotify platform. As the voice of our members, NMPA protects, promotes, and advances the interests of music creators and enforces the rights of publishers, and their songwriter partners, who own and/or control musical work copyrights.
Music is essential to Spotify’s service; it is the reason subscribers utilize the Spotify platform every day. Spotify’s primary use of musical works via interactive streams and downloads is subject to the antiquated compulsory license under 17 U.S.C. § 115 and consent decree-governed public performance licenses.
Regardless of the mechanical and public performance licenses Spotify may have, however, the use of lyrics and music in videos and podcasts on its platform requires rights that must be negotiated directly with rightsholders in a free market.
It has come to our attention that Spotify displays lyrics and reproduces and distributes music videos and podcasts using musical works without the consent of or compensation to the respective publishers and/or administrators (our members) who control the copyrights in the musical compositions. As such, these uses of musical works on the Spotify platform are not licensed or will soon become unlicensed.
U.S. copyright law generally grants copyright owners the exclusive right to, among other things, reproduce, distribute, display, perform publicly, and create derivative works from their copyrighted works under 17 U.S.C. § 106. Violation of these exclusive rights constitutes copyright infringement under 17 U.S.C. § 501.
Spotify thus appears to be engaged in direct infringement by hosting unlicensed musical works in its lyrics, videos, and podcasts, and by distributing unauthorized reproductions, synchronizations, displays, and derivative uses of these musical works to its users. Making matters worse, Spotify profits from such infringement.
Accordingly, on behalf of our members, NMPA demands that unlicensed lyrics, music videos, and podcasts be removed from the platform or Spotify will face copyright liability for continued use of these works.
We also understand that Spotify wishes to offer a “remix” feature allowing Spotify subscribers to “speed up, mash up, and otherwise edit” their favorite songs to create derivative works. Spotify is on notice that release of any such feature without the proper licenses in place from our members may constitute additional direct infringement.
NMPA further demands that Spotify preserve all electronically stored information (“ESI”), as defined by Rule 34 of the Federal Rules of Civil Procedure, along with any paper files, in Spotify’s possession, custody, or control that is relevant to use of our members’ unlicensed works. Spotify must also cease any auto-deletion operations affecting ESI relevant to this matter.
This letter is not intended as a full recitation of the facts or claims that may be made against Spotify by NMPA, its members, and/or other copyright owners, and is made without prejudice to all rights or remedies against Spotify and all others acting in concert with Spotify, including without limitation, monetary damages and attorneys’ fees as provided under 17 U.S.C. §§ 502-505.
Sincerely,
Danielle Aguierre
Universal Music Group (UMG) and CEO Lucian Grainge have been dismissed from a lawsuit claiming they “aided and abetted” Sean “Diddy” Combs in his alleged sexual abuse — a move that came after the lawyer who filed the case admitted there had been “no legal basis for the claims.”
The sudden reversal came two months after attorneys for the music giant argued that the accusations were so “offensively false” that they planned to take the unusual step of seeking legal penalties directly against the accuser’s lawyer, Tyrone Blackburn, over his decision to name them in the lawsuit.
In a sworn declaration filed in court Monday (May 13), Blackburn said that after reading UMG’s objections, he had “concluded that there is no legal basis for the claims and allegations that were made against the UMG defendants.” He asked that they be dismissed immediately and “with prejudice” — meaning he cannot refile them later.
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In his own court filing on Tuesday, UMG’s lead attorney, Donald Zakarin, agreed that the accusations against his clients should be dropped. But he once again sharply criticized Blackburn for bringing those claims in the first place.
“As we have repeatedly said from our very first communication with counsel for the plaintiff on March 4, 2024, there was no basis, not legal and not factual, for the claims and accusations that were alleged,” Zakarin wrote. “The UMG defendants should never have been named in any of these complaints and we should never have been required to make motions to dismiss the complaints in this action.”
When reached for comment by Billboard, Blackburn declined to answer specific questions about what had led him to drop the case: “I would strongly advise you not to reach out to me for any comment on any case that I have. I have no respect for you as a journalist. You are a mouth piece for [Combs’ attorney] Shawn Holley, and UMG. You should reach out to them for comment.”
Filed in late February, the lawsuit against Diddy claims that he sexually assaulted and harassed a producer named Rodney “Lil Rod” Jones while he was working as a producer on the rapper’s 2023 The Love Album. The lawsuit is one of several abuse cases filed against Combs over the past six months, in addition to an apparent federal criminal investigation. Combs has strongly denied all allegations of wrongdoing.
But the case filed by Jones went far beyond a simple sexual assault claim against Diddy. Naming Grainge, UMG and numerous others as defendants, the case alleged that they operated a sweeping conspiracy that violated the Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act — the federal RICO statute that’s more often used in criminal cases against mobsters and drug cartels. He also accused the various defendants of violating federal sex trafficking laws.
In a scathing response to those allegations in March, attorneys for UMG and Grainge said that those claims were “entirely invented by Mr. Blackburn.”
“The [complaint] hurls accusations of criminal racketeering and criminal sex trafficking against the UMG defendants, respected individuals and companies having utterly nothing to do with plaintiff’s claims,” Zakarin wrote at the time. “These accusations are recklessly false and, but for the fact that they are embodied in a complaint, would be libelous.”
In addition to seeking to have the claims dismissed, UMG’s lawyers also took aim directly at Blackburn. They accused him of filing “knowingly false allegations” and said they would ask the judge to punish him for doing so.
“A license to practice law is a privilege,” Zakarin wrote at the time. “Mr. Blackburn, plaintiff’s lawyer, has misused that license to self-promote, gratuitously, falsely and recklessly accusing the UMG defendants of criminal behavior.”
Earth, Wind & Fire has reached a settlement with a tribute act that used the R&B group’s name without permission, avoiding a looming trial over how much the unauthorized group would have to pay in damages.
The settlement, filed in court on Tuesday (May 14), came two months after a judge ruled that the tribute group had infringed Earth, Wind & Fire’s trademark rights by calling themselves “Earth, Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion” — a name the judge called “deceptive and misleading.”
Following that ruling, a trial had been scheduled for later this month over how much Legacy Reunion would be required to pay in damages. But in a joint filing this week, attorneys for both sides said those proceedings would no longer be necessary.
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“The parties have reached a settlement in principle related to the damages issues that remain to be tried before the court in the referenced action,” the lawyers wrote. “The parties are in the process of preparing documents that reflect their agreement on the damages issues and that should fully dispose of the damages issues that remained unresolved in this action.”
The terms of the agreement, including how much Legacy Reunion will pay to Earth Wind & Fire, were not disclosed in court filings. Neither side immediately returned requests for comment.
Earth, Wind & Fire has continued to tour since founder Maurice White died in 2016, led by longtime members Philip Bailey, Ralph Johnson and White’s brother, Verdine White. The band operates under a license from an entity called Earth Wind & Fire IP, a holding company controlled by Maurice White’s sons that formally owns the rights to the name.
Last year, that company filed the current lawsuit, accusing Legacy Reunion of trying to trick consumers into thinking it was the real Earth, Wind & Fire. Though it called itself a “Reunion,” the lawsuit said the tribute band contained only a few “side musicians” who had briefly played with Earth, Wind & Fire many years ago.
“Defendants did this to benefit from the commercial magnetism and immense goodwill the public has for plaintiff’s ‘Earth, Wind & Fire’ marks and logos, thereby misleading consumers and selling more tickets at higher prices,” the group’s lawyers wrote at the time.
Tribute acts — groups that exclusively cover the music of a particular band — are legally allowed to operate, and they often adopt names that allude to the original. But they must make clear that they are only a tribute band, and they can get into legal hot water if they make it appear that they are affiliated with or endorsed by the original.
Ruling on the case last month, Judge Federico A. Moreno said the evidence pointed “overwhelmingly” in the band’s favor. In particular, the judge cited angry social media posts and emails from fans who attended the “Reunion” shows because they thought it was the original band — proof of the kind of “actual confusion” that’s crucial evidence in a trademark lawsuit.
“It is not a far cry to think that an average consumer looking for an Earth, Wind & Fire concert would believe that they could acquire that experience from either plaintiff or defendants,” the judge wrote.
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 deep dive into Young Thug’s trial in Atlanta as the gang case passes the two-year mark with no clear end in sight; a Supreme Court ruling in a copyright case filed against Warner Music over a Flo Rida song; Donald Glover beats a lawsuit claiming he stole his chart-topping “This Is America”; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Why Is Young Thug’s Trial Taking So Long?
It’s been two years since Young Thug was indicted on accusations of running a violent street gang that terrorized Atlanta. It’s been well over a year since jury selection started, and more than five months since the trial got underway in earnest. The proceedings are expected to last into 2025, with roughly 100 more states witnesses still to testify. And all the while, Young Thug has sat in jail.Pitting prosecutors from America’s rap capital against one of hip-hop’s most influential artists, the Young Thug case was always an extraordinary story – not least because it represented a flashpoint in a decades-long debate over the use of rap music in criminal trials. But as the case drags on for years, critics like Kevin Liles, the CEO of Warner Music Group’s 300 Entertainment, say the case has metastasized into something else.“From the absence of bond to the extraordinary weaponization of creative expression, this case has always been an outrage,” Liles tells Billboard. “Now as the longest trial in Georgia history and with no end in sight, it’s also become a farce.”For the full story, go read Jewel Wicker’s excellent deep dive into the Young Thug case – including how we got here, what experts think about the case, and what comes next.
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Other top stories this week…
SCOTUS COPYRIGHT RULING – The U.S. Supreme Court sided with a Florida music producer in a legal battle against Warner Music over a song by the rapper Flo Rida, ruling that copyright owners can recover money reaching back decades into the past. The decision in the case, which music companies had called “exceptionally important,” could encourage more accusers to try their hand at litigation over years-old songs.THIS ISN’T INFRINGEMENT – A federal appeals court affirmed a ruling last year dismissing a lawsuit that accused Donald Glover of ripping off his chart-topping Childish Gambino hit “This Is America” from an earlier song. A rapper named Kidd Wes had claimed that Glover’s 2018 Grammy winner was “practically identical” to a 2016 track called “Made In America,” but a lower court ruled last March that the two tracks were “entirely different.”50 CENT DEFAMATION CASE – The rapper filed a libel lawsuit against his ex Daphne Joy over her accusations that he raped and physically abused her, calling them a “calculated attack” of false allegations designed to destroy his reputation. The rapper claimed that Joy made her statements as retaliation after the he moved to take custody of their son – a step he claims he took in the wake of a lawsuit against Sean “Diddy” Combs that accused Joy of being a “sex worker.”PORTNOW RAPE CASE DROPPED – An unnamed woman who filed a lawsuit accusing former Recording Academy boss Neil Portnow of rape abruptly moved to drop her case, citing a concern that her real name will be revealed. The move came amid a split with her own lawyers, who told the judge they would withdraw from the case due to “irreconcilable differences” with Portnow’s accuser.ASTROWORLD TRIAL UPDATE – Settlements have been reached in nine of the 10 wrongful death lawsuits filed against Travis Scott, Live Nation and others over the deadly crowd surge at the 2021 Astroworld music festival, lawyers revealed at a court hearing last week, including the case that had been set to go to trial this month. The settlements leave pending one wrongful death suit to be tried – the one filed by the family of 9-year-old Ezra Blount – as well as hundreds of lawsuits filed by people who were allegedly injured.DIDDY WANTS CASE TOSSED – Sean “Diddy” Combs asked a federal judge to dismiss a lawsuit alleging that he and two co-defendants raped a 17-year-old girl in a New York recording studio in 2003 — one of several abuse cases the rapper is currently facing. Attorneys for Combs argued that it was a “false and hideous claim” that was filed too late under the law.BRIAN WILSON CONSERVATORSHIP – A Los Angeles judge ruled Beach Boys founder and music luminary Brian Wilson should be placed under a conservatorship to manage his personal and medical decisions because of what his doctor calls a “major neurocognitive disorder.” The ruling, which came on a petition filed by Wilson’s family, appointed two longtime Wilson representatives, publicist Jean Sievers and manager LeeAnn Hard, as his conservators.NBA YOUNGBOY DRUG CHARGES – A judge in Utah set a $100,000 bond for rapper NBA YoungBoy, who faces dozens of new charges involving allegations that he orchestrated a fraudulent prescription operation while he lived under house arrest as he awaited trial on separate federal gun charges.
A federal appeals court has rejected a lawsuit accusing Donald Glover of ripping off his chart-topping Childish Gambino hit “This Is America” from an earlier song.
In a ruling Friday, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit upheld a judge’s decision last year dismissing the lawsuit, which claimed that Glover’s 2018 song was “practically identical” to a 2016 track called “Made In America” by a rapper named Kidd Wes.
The earlier ruling said Glover had done nothing wrong because the two songs were “entirely different.” But in Friday’s decision, the appeals court rejected the case for even simpler reasons: that Wes (Emelike Nwosuocha) had failed to secure the proper copyrights on his track.
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“Nwosuocha’s problem is that his copyright registration is simply for the wrong work,” the appeals court wrote. “That distinction is important.”
Released in 2018, “This Is America” spent two weeks atop the Hot 100 and eventually won record of the year and song of the year at the 61st Annual Grammy Awards. It was accompanied by a critically acclaimed music video, directed by Hiro Murai, that touched on issues of race, mass shootings and police violence.
Nwosuocha sued in May 2021, claiming there were “unmissable” similarities between the song and his own “Made In America,” including the “flow” — the cadence, rhyming schemes, rhythm and other characteristics of hip hop lyrics. But in March 2023 ruling, Judge Victor Marrero sharply disagreed with the lawsuit’s allegations.
“A cursory comparison with the challenged composition reveals that the content of the choruses is entirely different and not substantially similar,” the judge wrote. “More could be said on the ways these songs differ, but no more airtime is needed to resolve this case.”
Nwosuocha appealed that ruling, seeking to revive his lawsuit against Glover. But in rejecting that appeal on Friday, the Second Circuit ruled that it didn’t even need to decide whether the songs were similar. Instead, it said the case also failed because Nwosuocha had secured a federal copyright registration only for the recording of the song, not for the underlying composition that he claimed Glover had copied.
“The distinction between a sound recording and a musical work is not just an administrative classification,” the judge wrote. “That statutory distinction is important because sound recordings and musical works are different artistic works that can be copyrighted by different creators and are infringed in different ways.”
Barring an unlikely trip to the U.S. Supreme Court, Friday’s ruling will permanently end Nwosuocha’s lawsuit against Glover. Neither side immediately returned a request for comment on Tuesday.
A judge in Utah has set a $100,000 bond for rapper NBA YoungBoy, who faces dozens of charges involving a fraudulent prescription operation he allegedly orchestrated.
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The 24-year-old rap artist, whose real name is Kentrell Gaulden, appeared Thursday (May 9) before Judge Spencer D. Walsh in a Cache County, Utah, court for the bond hearing, KUTV-TV reported.
Gaulden was arrested April 16 at his home in Huntsville, where he was on house arrest while awaiting trial on federal weapons charges. He faces 63 felonies and misdemeanors related to the fraudulent prescription operation, which included identity fraud, obtaining a prescription under false pretenses, forgery, possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person, engaging in a pattern of unlawful activity, and possession of a controlled substance.
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Three others linked to the case are accused of traveling to nearby pharmacies to pick up prescriptions for pills that had been filled on bogus orders from people pretending to be real doctors.
The defense informed Walsh that the state agreed to a $100,000 bond in exchange for his waiving a preliminary hearing, where the state would have to convince a judge that a crime was committed and that it was committed by the defendant. His arraignment was set for July 1 at which time he will enter a plea, the television station reported.
“You’ll be brought over from the Cache County Jail assuming you’re still incarcerated,” Walsh said.
On April 26, additional charges related to the prescription fraud case were filed against Gaulden in Weber County, including a second-degree felony count of possession of a dangerous weapon by a restricted person and two Class A misdemeanor counts of distributing a controlled substance. He was held without bond in that case.
Authorities said Gaulden will at some point be transferred back to federal custody in the U.S. Middle District Court of Louisiana where he faces a July 15 trial on a possession of a firearm charge in Baton Rouge. U.S. District Judge Shelly Dick, who is presiding over the federal case, signed an order May 2 postponing the trial to a date yet to be determined as several pending motions in the case play out, court records show.
The weapons charge stems from a 2020 music video shoot. Baton Rouge police rounded up Gaulden and 15 others after swarming the video shoot and finding pistols and assault rifles hidden in the area, arrest reports indicate.
A spokesperson for the U.S. Attorneys office in Baton Rouge confirmed Thursday that when Gaulden is ultimately released from Utah state custody he’ll be detained by federal authorities, The Advocate reported.
Drake’s Toronto mansion has been the site of two incidents prompting police involvement this week. CityNews reports a break-in attempt at the Bridle Path property around 2 p.m. on May 8, with police back at the residence just one day after a security guard was shot outside. “Officers were called after a person attempted to […]
LOS ANGELES (AP) — A judge found Thursday (May 9) that Beach Boys founder and music luminary Brian Wilson should be in a court conservatorship to manage his personal and medical decisions because of what his doctor calls a “major neurocognitive disorder.”
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At a hearing, Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Gus T. May approved the petition filed by the 81-year-old Wilson’s family and inner circle after the death in January of his wife, Melinda Ledbetter Wilson, who handled most of his tasks and affairs.
“I find from clear and convincing evidence that a conservatorship of the person is necessary,” May said at the brief hearing. The judge said that evidence shows that Wilson consents to the arrangement and lacks the capacity to make health care decisions.
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May appointed two longtime Wilson representatives, publicist Jean Sievers and manager LeeAnn Hard, as his conservators.
There were no significant objections raised.
Two of Wilson’s seven children, Carnie and Wendy Wilson from singing group Wilson Phillips, asked through their attorney that all the children be added to a group text chain about their father, and that all be consulted on medical decisions. The judge granted the stipulations.
The two daughters had asked for a delay in the process at an April 30 hearing while issues were worked out, but it was clear at the hearing that consensus had been reached.
A doctor’s declaration filed with the petition in February said Wilson has a “major neurocognitive disorder,” is taking medication for dementia, and “is unable to properly provide for his own personal needs for physical health, food, clothing, or shelter.”
Sievers and Hard have had a close relationship with Wilson and his wife for many years. In a report, Robert Frank Cipriano, an attorney appointed by the court to represent Wilson’s interests, said Wilson acknowledged the need for the conservatorship, and said he trusts the judgement of the two women.
Cipriano’s report to the court said he visited Wilson at his “impeccably well maintained residence in Beverly Hills,” where he lives with two daughters and a long-term live-in caregiver.
Wilson can move around with help from a walker and the caregiver, Cipriano said, and he has a good sense of who he is, where he is, and when it is, but could not name his children beyond the two that live with him.
He said Wilson was “mostly difficult to understand and gave very short responses to questions and comments.”
Cipriano said he approved of the conservatorship, mostly because of Wilson’s general consent.
Wilson credited Ledbetter with stabilizing his famously troubled life after they met in the mid-1980s and married in 1995.
Wilson, his seven children, his caregiver, and his doctors consulted before the petition was filed, according to a family statement at the time. It said the decision was to ensure “there will be no extreme changes” and that “Brian will be able to enjoy all of his family and friends and continue to work on current projects.”
Judges in California can appoint a conservator for a person, their finances — referred to as the estate — or both, as was the case with Britney Spears. Spears’ case brought attention — much of it negative — to conservatorships, known in some states as guardianships, and prompted legislative changes. Wilson’s case is closer to the typical traditional use of a conservatorship, which very often is installed for an older person in irreversible mental decline.
The Wilson petition did not seek a conservator of the estate because his assets are in a trust, with Hard as a trustee.
Deeply revered and acclaimed as a co-founder, producer, arranger and chief songwriter of the Beach Boys and a masterful innovator of vocal harmony, Wilson struggled with mental health and substance abuse issues that upended his career in the 1960s.
He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 1988 along with his bandmates, including his brothers Carl and Dennis and his cousin Mike Love.
It’s been two years since Young Thug and 27 others were indicted on Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations (RICO) gang charges in Atlanta and more than five months since the state of Georgia began presenting its case against six of the defendants. To say the trial, which is already the longest in Georgia history, has been lengthy and full of complications would be an understatement.
It’s a case that has garnered national attention because its star co-defendant, Jeffery Williams, aka Young Thug, is accused by Fulton County prosecutors of co-founding and leading the gang Young Slime Life. The indictment alleges a number of crimes starting in 2013, just a year before the rapper first entered the Billboard Hot 100 with songs such as “Stoner” and “Lifestyle.” Thug’s charges include conspiracy to violate RICO, participation in criminal street gang activity, violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act and possession of a machine gun.
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In addition to Young Thug, several other rappers signed to his record label Young Stoner Life were charged in the indictment. Gunna, whose real name is Sergio Kitchens, and Slimelife Shawty, whose name is Wunnie Lee, were both charged with one count of conspiracy to violate RICO and negotiated plea deals in the case in December 2022. Yak Gotti, whose real name is Deamonte Kendrick, remains on trial alongside Young Thug and is facing a count of murder and conspiracy to violate RICO.
During opening arguments last November, Fulton County Chief Deputy District Attorney Adriane Love repeatedly referred to Young Thug as “King Slime” and said, “The evidence will show that the members of YSL knew who their leader was, and they knew the repercussions of not obeying him.” In an indictment that spans more than 60 counts and 191 overt acts, prosecutors allege that members of Young Slime Life committed a number of crimes ranging from armed robbery to attempted murder and murder.
From the early 2010s until today, Young Thug has risen to become one of the most influential rappers of his generation, earning three Billboard Hot 100 No. 1s and one Grammy. The YSL indictment alleges that while the rapper was rising to prominence globally, he was also leading a criminal street gang and authorizing a number of violent crimes.
Thug isn’t the first rapper to recently be charged in a RICO case. In 2019, 6ix9ine was sentenced to two years after pleading guilty to racketing conspiracy and eight other charges. In 2021, rapper YFN Lucci faced RICO charges in the same Fulton County courthouse as Young Thug before he negotiated a plea deal earlier this year.
The YSL trial has reignited conversations about the use of rap lyrics in criminal cases. During opening arguments, Love said prosecutors “chased the murders and found the lyrics,” not vice versa. She referenced the lyrics “hundred rounds in a Tahoe,” alleging that Young Thug was referencing the murder of a rival gang member who was standing next to a Chevy Tahoe. Prosecutors say Thug rented the 2014 Silver Infiniti Q50 sedan that was used in the January 2015 drive-by shooting that killed Donovan “Nut” Thomas.
Defense attorneys such as Doug Weinstein, who represents Yak Gotti, have repeatedly argued that the use of lyrics in this way is a harmful practice. “You have a situation where they’re bringing in lyrics, they are using them out of context, they are reading into the lyrics whatever they want to read into them and they’re taking them separate and apart from their artistic use. They’re assuming whenever they’re bringing in these lyrics that everything that any of these guys rap about is autobiographical,” he tells Billboard. “It’s just outrageous.”
Music executives have also been vocal about their support of the rapper as well as their criticisms about the use of lyrics in the case. In addition to creating the Protect Black Art Petition, both 300 Entertainment’s Kevin Liles and Atlantic Music Group’s Julie Greenwald have visited the Fulton County Courthouse in support of Young Thug. “If this were country music, rock music…we wouldn’t be here,” Liles told reporters outside of the courtroom before listening to the first day of opening arguments in November.
“Artists and labels should not underestimate the precedent the Fulton County District Attorney has created by taking the weaponization of lyrics mainstream,” Liles said in a new statement to Billboard. “When obviously figurative lyrics like ‘ready for war like I’m Russia’ are claimed to be ‘an overt act in furtherance of conspiracy,’ no artist in any genre is safe. This case is a radical assault on creative freedom.”
Throughout the trial, Young Thug has garnered support from a number of artists, including Drake, Killer Mike and The 1975’s Matty Healy. Recently, Chance the Rapper referred to the trial as a “circus” on Instagram and said he wished Young Thug was able to receive bond during the lengthy process. “For my birthday I just wish my brother was home with his family,” he wrote. The singer Mariah the Scientist, who is dating Young Thug, was a regular in the courtroom before her tour started in February. Quavo also sat in on the trial one day in April.
Despite an already lengthy process, this case is likely to last at least through the remainder of 2024. To date, prosecutors have called more than 60 witnesses to testify to a number of overt acts, but in early April they told Judge Ural Glanville they still had about 150 remaining witnesses on their list. At that time, they estimated they’d need roughly 120 trial days to complete their case, but this didn’t account for administrative days or cross examinations by the defense. Testimony in the trial has also notably been delayed several times for a number of reasons, including the behind-bars stabbing of co-defendant Shannon Stillwell in December and, in late April, a juror’s medical emergency.
“From the absence of bond to the extraordinary weaponization of creative expression, this case has always been an outrage. Now as the longest trial in Georgia history and with no end in sight, it’s also become a farce,” Liles said about the ongoing trial. “I’m looking forward to embracing Jeffery when he is finally granted his freedom.”
“I’ve been practicing for over 25 years, most of that time in federal court. I’ve been involved in significant civil cases, for example, involving up to a dozen or more [corporate] defendants,” Weinstein says. “I’ve never seen any case like [this]. I’ve never seen any case drag out for this expected length of time.” The defense attorney said he believes the state’s witness testimony has become “duplicative” and “unnecessary.” He estimates the state’s case is “going to drag well into 2025.”
“And that’s before we present our case,” Weinstein adds, referencing that all six defendants will then be allowed to call their own witnesses.
Anthony Michael Kreis, assistant professor of law at Georgia State University, says retaining the attention of the jury might provide incentive for defendants to make their cases quickly when it’s their turn, however. “I don’t think the state, for whatever reason, seems to acknowledge so far that the longer this drags out, the more irritated your jurors are going to be that you brought this case in the first place,” he says. It took nearly 10 months to select a jury for this trial, after many of the prospective jurors said sitting on a trial for six months to a year would be a hardship. Jurors in this case are paid $25 dollars per day by Fulton County and are unable to work during the trial.
Even beyond the impact the trial has had on the rap community, the prosecution of Thug and the other co-defendants has implications for the rapper’s hometown, too. Defense attorney Suri Chadha Jimenez says the trial has “shut down the entire court system in Georgia,” noting he’s had several instances where a case was delayed because the defendants’ attorney was stuck in court for the YSL trial. And Weinstein says this lengthy trial is expensive for taxpayers, too. He estimates the sheriff deputies involved with the case “easily” work 60 hours per week due to the time it takes to transport defendants to court and their work providing security within the courtroom. “You’re looking at a lot of overtime,” he says. “That’s just the deputies. That’s not all of the other expenses of this case.”
The case has also been seen by many as a litmus test for how the Fulton County RICO case against former president Donald Trump might play out. “I think there’s a lot of lessons that the DA’s office is going to have to learn from this case for the Trump case,” Kreis says. “If the election trial operates anywhere near as inefficiently and [is] bungled as often as this trial has [been], I think they’re going to be very sorry. And there’s going to be a lot of political backlash.”
Jimenez was previously a Fulton County prosecutor before he began representing one of the defendants in the YSL trial. Prosecutors dropped the charges against Cordarius Dorsey, aka YSL Polo, before opening arguments began. Still, the defense attorney says trying cases on behalf of the state helped inform his opinion that Georgia’s broad RICO statute has allowed for its overuse. “I think RICO is a weapon of last resort to go after true mob bosses for organized crime that are operating in plain sight and they’re doing things that seem legit, but when you put them in context, they are predicate acts of a bigger organization [and] conspiracy. We ain’t got that in Atlanta. We don’t have any crime bosses. If we do, they’re probably developers or politicians. But they’re definitely not the guys out here robbing houses and shooting people. That’s not organized crime,” the defense attorney says. “If you have a murder, prove a f–king murder. It will take you a week [to try] and the person will go away for life.”
Jimenez was working for the district attorney’s office during the time in which many of the incidents in this case took place and he prosecuted Walter “DK” Murphy for an alleged attempted murder that’s listed as an overt act in this indictment. (Murphy had been released from prison on that charge nearly three months before he was arrested and charged with conspiracy to violate RICO in this case. He subsequently accepted a plea deal and was released in December 2022.)
The attorney believes a part of the reason this trial is taking so long is because prosecutors have long been struggling to prove some of their allegations. “These are instances that didn’t get prosecuted 10 years ago for a reason. They didn’t have it,” he says. “So now, what they’re doing is throwing everything at the wall and seeing what sticks.”
With several months left of the prosecution’s case alone, it’s not yet clear how jurors are processing the evidence they’re receiving. Young Thug’s bond has been repeatedly denied, however, meaning he’ll remain in jail – effectively halting his career – at least until a verdict is reached.