The Legal Beat
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This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Young Thug’s trial in Atlanta descends into chaos as the judge orders the rapper’s lawyer thrown into jail; Bad Bunny’s battle with Major League Baseball players’ union gets messier; Madison Square Garden bans a Phish fan over the “first bong hit” at the Las Vegas Sphere; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Young Thug Trial Goes Off The Rails
Young Thug’s gang trial in Atlanta was already in uncharted territory – it’s now the longest trial in Georgia state history, with dozens of witnesses still scheduled to testify and no clear end in sight until 2025. But on Monday (June 10), it crossed over into the realm of the truly bizarre. It started when Young Thug’s attorney, Brian Steel, said he had learned of an allegedly improper secret meeting between Judge Ural Glanville, state prosecutors, and a key witness. It ended with Steel being escorted into custody by a court officer. In between, the attorney and the judge engaged in an extraordinary back-and-forth — broadcast across the internet in real-time — over illegal leaks, witness coercion, and potential jail time. “I’m going to give you five minutes. If you don’t tell me who it is, I’m going to put you in contempt,” Glanville said at one point. “I don’t need five minutes,” Steel fired back. When the dust settled, Glanville had sentenced Steel to 20 days in jail, to be served over 10 consecutive weekends. Capping off the surreal proceedings? Steel demanded to serve that time in jail right alongside Young Thug, who has been locked up for two years as the case drags on. Go read our full story here, and stay tuned at Billboard for more developments — Steel has already filed an appeal, and something tells us this isn’t the last we’ll hear about that secret meeting…
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BAD MONEY? Major League Baseball’s players’ union fired back hard at a lawsuit claiming it had discriminated against Bad Bunny’s sports agency Rimas Sports — explaining (in great detail) how the company had, in fact, been penalized due to “egregious and systemic” violations of union rules against offering gifts to prospective clients. According to the union, those illegal “inducements” included a $200,000 interest-free loan to one ballplayer, and VIP tickets to Bad Bunny concerts to others. PHISH FUED – A Phish fan who bragged about taking the “first bong hit to ever be ripped” in the Las Vegas Sphere — and posted a viral video of him doing so — received a letter from Madison Square Garden Entertainment’s lawyers permanently banning him from the venue and all other MSG facilities. Though MSG initially stuck by the decision, the company later backtracked after the story made headlines: “There was a breakdown in our process due to a change in personnel which resulted in the letter being sent inadvertently,” said a Sphere Entertainment spokeswoman in a statement. “This customer is not banned from our properties.” KBJ x QUEEN BEY – When the U.S. Supreme Court’s nine justices released their annual financial disclosures, Justice Ketanji Brown Jackson reported a cooler-than-usual line item: that Beyoncé had personally gifted her four concert tickets. ‘ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT, ALRIGHT’ – Travis Scott asked a federal judge to end a copyright lawsuit accusing him of using unlicensed samples on Utopia and Astroworld from “Bitches Reply,” an oft-sampled 1992 track that’s previously been used by Lil Wayne, Cardi B, Kid Cudi and others. In their filing, Scott’s lawyers argued the only material the rapper allegedly copied were the words “alright, alright, alright” — and that such “stock phrases” do not have “even the minimal creativity required for copyright protection.” MADONNA CASE *NOT* SETTLED – A bizarre exchange took place in one of the several lawsuits filed against Madonna over claims that she broke the law by delaying the starts of her concerts. Days after news of a settlement was filed in court by the plaintiff’s attorneys, lawyers for Madonna and Live Nation emphatically denied that any such deal had been reached and told a judge they “will not be harassed into settlement.” The case remains very much pending. MOTOWN SINGER SUES HOSPITAL – Alexander Morris, the current lead singer of the legendary Motown group The Four Tops, is suing a Detroit-area hospital over allegations that staffers “assumed he was mentally ill” and put him in a straitjacket after he informed them that he was a famous musician. Morris claims he was sent for a psychiatric evaluation and deprived of necessary treatment for his heart infraction — until, that is, his wife showed up and staffers watched a video of him performing at the Grammys. COUNTERFEIT COUNTERATTACK – With the problem of bootleg music merch continuing to grow, Billboard’s Steve Knopper chatted with two companies that are fighting back using technological weapons like artificial intelligence, image-matching software and automated takedown notices.
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: Cher wins a closely-watched termination battle against Sonny Bono’s widow; the massive copyright lawsuit against Bad Bunny and other reggaeton stars moves forward; R&B hitmaker The-Dream is hit with a sexual abuse lawsuit; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Copyrights & Divorces & Cher, Oh My!
Cher emerged victorious last week in a long-running legal battle with Sonny Bono’s widow that centered on the messy intersection between federal copyrights and state-level divorce law.The lawsuit was the industry’s latest test of copyright law’s “termination right,” which gives creators and heirs the power to reclaim control of works decades after they sold them away. Created by Congress in the 1970s, termination was designed to level the playing field for creators who faced an “unequal bargaining position” with big companies and sold their rights for cheap.Over the past few years, record labels have faced class actions from artists seeking to win back their masters; musicians have pushed for a rule change to make sure songwriters can actually start collecting streaming royalties after they take back their copyrights; and individual artists like Dwight Yoakam, 2 Live Crew and KC & the Sunshine Band have all fought their own lawsuits over termination.Cher’s case posed new and difficult questions. After using termination to take back control of Sonny’s copyrights, Mary Bono argued that she was no longer required to honor Sonny and Cher’s 1978 divorce settlement, which gave the superstar a permanent 50% cut of the publishing revenue from songs written before the couple split up.But in a ruling on Wednesday (May 29), Judge John A. Kronstadt sided with Cher, ruling that she must continue to receive publishing royalties for her catalog of songs created with Sonny, including “I Got You Babe,” “The Beat Goes On” and “Baby Don’t Go.”For more, go read our entire breakdown of the ruling, including access to the judge’s full written decision.
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REGGAETON CASE GOES ON – A federal judge ruled that a sprawling copyright lawsuit can move forward with accusations that nearly 2,000 reggaeton songs — including hits by Bad Bunny, Karol G and dozens of others — all infringed a single 1989 song called “Fish Market” that allegedly spawned the so-called “dem bow” rhythm. The stars had argued that the lawsuit aimed to “monopolize practically the entire reggaetón musical genre,” but a judge said it was too early to make that argument — and that he wasn’t particularly receptive to it anyhow.“A PROLONGED NIGHTMARE” – The-Dream, a singer and producer who has worked with Beyoncé, Rihanna and others, was hit with a sex trafficking lawsuit that claims he subjected a young songwriter named Chanaaz Mangroe to an “abusive, violent, and manipulative relationship” that included an alleged incident of rape. The lawsuit claims the producer (Terius Gesteelde-Diamant) used promises of career advancement to lure a “young and vulnerable artist” into “a prolonged nightmare” filled with “violent sexual acts.”MEGAN THEE STALLION HITS BACK – The superstar rapper fired back at a lawsuit that claims she forced a cameraman named Emilio Garcia to watch her have sex with a woman inside a moving vehicle, filing a scathing first response that called those claims “false and fabricated” and labeled her accuser a “con artist.”MADONNA SUED AGAIN – The Queen of Pop was hit with yet another class action over delayed concerts on her Celebration Tour, this time from a ticket buyer who also claims that the show — which allegedly featured “topless women” who were “engaging in simulated sexual acts” — amounted to a form of “pornography.”STUBHUB JURY VERDICT – StubHub must pay more than $16 million in legal damages after a jury decided that the ticketing giant screwed over a smaller company called Spotlight Ticket Management — first by failing to pay millions in commissions, then by torpedoing the startup’s lucrative concierge partnership with American Express.KANYE HARASSMENT SUIT – Kanye West was sued by a former assistant named Lauren Pisciotta over allegations of sexual harassment and wrongful termination. In a lawsuit that came with pages of graphic texts that the rapper allegedly sent to her, Pisciotta’s attorneys claim she faced a “systematic” onslaught of “unlawful harassment” during her year of working for Ye.SPOTIFY SUED OVER “CAR THING” – A group of angry consumers filed a class action against Spotify over its recent decision to kill its short-lived “Car Thing” device, claiming that the streaming company’s move left them “with nothing more than a paperweight that cost between $50 and $100”.AEG CEO TALKS LIVE NATION CASE – In the wake of the DOJ’s antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation, AEG chairman/CEO Jay Marciano celebrated the case against its chief rival, saying it will bring “sweeping changes” to the live music industry. In an internal memo, Marciano said he believes that Live Nation “uses its monopoly power to impose its will on the live entertainment business.”
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This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: The federal government files an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation and Ticketmaster aimed at breaking up the concert giant; Beyoncé faces a copyright lawsuit over a sample featured in “Break My Soul”; Elvis Presley’s heirs win a bizarre battle over Graceland; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: “It Is Time To Break It Up”
Fourteen years after federal regulators allowed Live Nation and Ticketmaster to merge into a concert behemoth, the U.S. Department of Justice and dozens of states filed a long-awaited antitrust lawsuit last week that aims to effectively reverse that decision.“Live Nation has illegally monopolized markets across the live concert industry in the United States for far too long,” said Attorney General Merrick Garland at a press conference announcing the case. “It is time to break it up.”Ever since the merger was approved in 2010, Live Nation has faced criticism over its huge market share. But scrutiny increased dramatically following the disastrous 2022 rollout of Taylor Swift’s Eras Tour, which saw widespread service delays and website crashes. While the DOJ had already launched its probe prior to the Swift incident, the debacle sparked widespread public anger that led to Congressional hearings, private antitrust lawsuits, and repeated calls to break up the company.In a lawsuit aimed at doing just that, the DOJ focused on what it called Live Nation’s “flywheel model” — an alleged cycle of reaping revenue from ticketbuyers, using it to sign artists into promotion deals, and then leveraging that repertoire to lock venues into exclusive ticketing contracts. To bolster that model, the feds say Live Nation engaged in a wide range of anticompetitive conduct, including acquiring rivals and retaliating against venues that didn’t use Ticketmaster. In particular, the DOJ focused on emails between Live Nation chief executive Michael Rapino and venue management firm Oak View Group, a “potential competitor-turned-partner” that allegedly helped Live Nation stifle competition.For all the details, go read our full coverage on the Live Nation lawsuit — including our news story on the filing of the case (featuring the actual complaint filed by the DOJ) as well as a deep dive from Dave Brooks into those emails from Rapino. And stay tuned for more coverage from Billboard as the big case moves forward…
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BEYONCÉ COPYRIGHT CASE – The superstar was hit with an infringement lawsuit over her chart-topping 2024 hit “Break My Soul,” filed by a little-known group that claims one of the song’s prominent samples — a clip taken from the New Orleans rapper Big Freedia — had itself illegally lifted lyrics from their earlier song.GRACELAND SNAFU ENDS – A bizarre legal battle over “fraudulent” efforts to sell Elvis Presley’s Graceland mansion came to close after a Tennessee judge granted his granddaughter Riley Keough a court order blocking the looming foreclosure before the mysterious loan company that orchestrated the event reportedly withdrew its filings. But the story isn’t over, as Tennessee Attorney General Jonathan Skrmetti launched an investigation into potential “misconduct” by the shadowy creditors behind the incident: “My office has fought fraud against homeowners for decades and there is no home in Tennessee more beloved than Graceland.”DIDDY SUED FACES 7TH ACCUSER – Sean “Diddy” Combs is facing yet another sexual abuse lawsuit, this time filed by a woman named April Lampros who claims that he drugged and sexually assaulted her 30 years ago while she was a college student in New York City. Lampros is the seventh alleged victim to file a lawsuit accusing Combs of sexual abuse over the past six months, including one filed just days prior. He’s also facing an apparent federal criminal investigation.EARTH, WIND & DAMAGES – A tribute act that called itself “Earth, Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion” will pay the legendary R&B group $750,000 in damages for using its trademarked name in ways that a federal judge called “deceptive and misleading,” according to court documents filed last week. ASTROWORLD LITIGATION UPDATE – Attorneys for Travis Scott, Live Nation and others reached a settlement to resolve the last remaining wrongful death lawsuit stemming from the deadly crowd crush at the 2021 Astroworld music festival, which left 10 fans dead. But thousands of claims from injured fans remain pending, with a potential first trial set for October.APPLE APPEALS HUGE EU FINE – Apple launched a legal challenge in European Union court against the 1.8 billion euro ($1.95 billion) fine assessed by the European Commission earlier this year over allegations that the tech giant broke competition laws by unfairly favoring its own music streaming service over rivals like Spotify.KELLY CLARKSON SETTLES WITH EX – The singer reached a settlement to end her sprawling legal battle with ex-husband Brandon Blackstock over management commissions. The divorce itself was finalized in 2022, but the pair had continued to battle in court over tricky business entanglements with Blackstock’s father’s firm Starstruck Entertainment, which managed her career for years.
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: Spotify faces a lawsuit over allegations that it “unlawfully” chose to reduce royalty payments to publishers and songwriters; Earth, Wind & Fire reaches a settlement over how much it’s owed in damages by an unauthorized tribute band; Elvis Presley’s granddaughter sues to protect Graceland from a “fraudulent” foreclosure; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Spotify Taken To Court Over Royalties
Weeks after Billboard estimated that Spotify would pay roughly $150 million less to songwriters and publishers over the next year, the streaming giant is facing a legal battle over the move.In a lawsuit filed last week, the Mechanical Licensing Collective (MLC) claimed Spotify had “unilaterally and unlawfully” chosen to cut its royalty payments nearly in half by “erroneously recharacterizing” the nature of its streaming services to secure a lower rate.“The financial consequences of Spotify’s failure to meet its statutory obligations are enormous for songwriters and music publishers,” the MLC wrote. “If unchecked, the impact on songwriters and music publishers of Spotify’s unlawful underreporting could run into the hundreds of millions of dollars.”At issue in the lawsuit is Spotify’s recent addition of audiobooks to its premium subscription service. The streamer believes that because of the new offering, it’s now entitled to pay a discounted “bundled” royalty rate under federal law. But the MLC says Spotify’s interpretation is legally incorrect and represents a “clear breach” of its requirements under the law.This is the second lawsuit of the past six months for the MLC — an entity created by Congress in 2018 to collect royalties under the Music Modernization Act. After the MLC filed a similar case against Pandora in February, that streamer argued that the group was supposed to operate as a “neutral intermediary” and was “not authorized to play judge and jury” or pursue “legal frolics.”For the full breakdown of the new case against Spotify — including industry reactions and access to the full complaint filed in court — go read Kristin Robinson’s entire story here.
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TRADEMARK TRIAL AVERTED – Earth, Wind & Fire 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 agreement came months after a federal judge ruled that the tribute act — “Earth, Wind & Fire Legacy Reunion” — had infringed the band’s trademarks.LIVE NATION CASE EXPLAINED – With an antitrust lawsuit against Live Nation from the U.S. Department of Justice expected soon, Billboard‘s Dave Brooks dove deep — breaking down the particulars of the looming case, explaining how it might affect Live Nation and recounting recent federal efforts to crack down on anti-competitive practices at tech giants like Google and Apple.COURTHOUSE ROCK – Elvis Presley’s granddaughter Riley Keough filed a lawsuit aimed at blocking a “fraudulent” foreclosure sale of the late singer’s historic Memphis home Graceland. Keough’s lawyers say the sale foreclosure was triggered by phony claims that her late mother, Lisa Marie Presley, borrowed $3.8 million and used Elvis’ famed mansion as collateral.UMG DROPPED FROM DIDDY CASE – Universal Music Group (UMG) and CEO Lucian Grainge were 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 as UMG’s lawyers 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.SAMPLE SETTLEMENT – Kanye West reached a settlement with the estate of Donna Summer to resolve a copyright lawsuit that accused him of “shamelessly” using her 1977 hit “I Feel Love” without permission in his song “Good (Don’t Die).” The case, filed in February, claimed that West “arrogantly and unilaterally” used her music even though he had been explicitly refused a license.NAME GAMES – Members of the 1980s new wave band The Plimsouls won a legal ruling against the group’s guitarist over the trademark rights to the band’s name. The case was the music industry’s latest battle over the names of classic rock groups, including Journey, Stone Temple Pilots, Jefferson Starship, the Rascals, the Ebonys, The Commodores and The Platters.
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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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.
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: Tupac’s estate threatens to sue Drake over his use of the late rapper’s voice; Megan Thee Stallion faces a lawsuit over eye-popping allegations from her former cameraman; Britney Spears settles her dispute with her father; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Drake, Tupac & An AI Showdown
The debate over unauthorized voice cloning burst into the open last week when Tupac Shakur’s estate threatened to sue Drake over a recent diss track against Kendrick Lamar that featured an AI-generated version of the late rapper’s voice.In a cease-and-desist letter first reported by Billboard, litigator Howard King told Drake that the Shakur estate was “deeply dismayed and disappointed” by the rapper’s use of Tupac’s voice in his “Taylor Made Freestyle.” The letter warned Drake to confirm in less than 24 hours that he would pull the track down or the estate would “pursue all of its legal remedies” against him.“Not only is the record a flagrant violation of Tupac’s publicity and the estate’s legal rights, it is also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The Estate would never have given its approval for this use.”AI-powered voice cloning has been top of mind for the music industry since last spring when an unknown artist released a track called “Heart On My Sleeve” that featured — ironically — fake verses from Drake’s voice. As such fake vocals have continued to proliferate on the internet, industry groups, legal experts and lawmakers have wrangled over how best to crack down on them.With last week’s showdown, that debate jumped from hypothetical to reality. The Tupac estate laid out actual legal arguments for why it believed Drake’s use of the late rapper’s voice violated the law. And those arguments were apparently persuasive: Within 24 hours, Drake began to pull his song from the internet.
For more details on the dispute, go read our full story here.
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MEGAN THEE STALLION SUED – The rapper and Roc Nation were hit witha lawsuit from a cameraman named Emilio Garcia who claims he was forced to watch Megan have sex with a woman inside a moving vehicle while she was on tour in Spain. The lawsuit, which claims he was subjected to a hostile workplace, was filed by the same attorneys who sued Lizzo last year over similar employment law.BRITNEY SETTLES WITH FATHER – Britney Spears settled her long-running legal dispute with her father, Jamie Spears, that arose following the termination of the pop star’s 13-year conservatorship in 2021. Attorneys for Britney had accused Jamie of misconduct during the years he served as his daughter’s conservator, a charge he adamantly denied. The terms of last week’s agreement were not made public.TRAVIS SCOTT MUST FACE TRIAL – A Houston judge denied a motion from Travis Scott to be dismissed from the sprawling litigation over the 2021 disaster at the Astroworld music festival, leaving him to face a closely-watched jury trial next month. Scott’s attorneys had argued that the star could not be held legally liable since safety and security at live events is “not the job of performing artists.” But the judge overseeing the case denied that motion without written explanation.ASTROWORLD TRIAL LIVESTREAM? Also in the Astroworld litigation, plaintiffs’ attorneys argued that the upcoming trial — a pivotal first test for hundreds of other lawsuits filed by alleged victims over the disaster — should be broadcast live to the public. “The devastating scale of the events at Astroworld, combined with the involvement of high-profile defendants, has generated significant national attention and a legitimate public demand for transparency and accountability,” the lawyers wrote.BALLERINI HACKING CASE – Just a week after Kelsea Ballerini sued a former fan named Bo Ewing over accusations that he hacked her and leaked her unreleased album, his attorneys reached a deal with her legal team in which he agreed not to share her songs with anyone else — and to name any people he’s already sent them to. “Defendant shall, within thirty days of entry of this order, provide plaintiffs with the names and contact information for all people to whom defendant disseminated the recordings,” the agreement read.R. KELLY CONVICTIONS AFFIRMED – A federal appeals court upheld R. Kelly’s 2022 convictions in Chicago on child pornography and enticement charges, rejecting his argument that the case against him was filed too late. The court said that Kelly was convicted by “an even-handed jury” and that “no statute of limitations saves him.” His attorney vowed a trip to the U.S. Supreme Court, though such appeals face long odds.DIDDY RESPONDS TO SUIT – Lawyers for Sean “Diddy” Combs pushed back against a sexual assault lawsuit filed by a woman named Joi Dickerson-Neal, arguing that he should not face claims under statutes that did not exist when the alleged incidents occurred in 1991. His attorneys want the claims — such as revenge porn and human trafficking — to be dismissed from the broader case, which claims that Combs drugged, assaulted and surreptitiously filmed Dickerson-Neal when she was 19 years old.
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: Pharrell faces another trademark dispute, this time filed by Pink over the term “P.Inc”; Madonna is sued again by fans angry about delayed starts to her concerts; YoungBoy Never Broke Again is arrested again on new drug and gun charges; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Pink v. P.Inc
Another week, another trademark dispute for Pharrell Williams.Less than a month after his longtime friend and musical collaborator Chad Hugo accused him of wrongly trying to secure trademarks to their shared “Neptunes” name, the superstar was hit with a similar action from the singer Pink.The disputed trademark? The term “P.Inc,” which Pharrell’s lawyers applied to register last year as a federal trademark covering a wide range of advertising and business services. Pink’s lawyers say the term is so similar to her own stage name that it would confuse consumers who see it.Strangely enough, Pink is actually not the first trademark owner to complain about Pharrell’s trademark application. Last month, the application drew another opposition filing from a retail giant that’s used the term PINK for decades. For more, go read our full story here.
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MADONNA SUED AGAIN – Madonna and Live Nation were hit with another federal class action lawsuit over late starts to her concerts, this time filed by spurned Washington D.C. ticket buyers who are accusing her of showing “total disrespect for her fans” by forcing them to wait “hours for her performance in a hot, uncomfortable arena.” The case comes three months after Madonna was hit with a similar case in New York – a case that she is currently seeking to have tossed out of court.YOUNGBOY ARRESTED – YoungBoy Never Broke Again (aka NBA YoungBoy) was arrested on new drug and weapons charges amid a years-long house arrest in Utah as he awaits trial on separate federal gun charges. Local police say he ran a “large scale prescription fraud ring” aimed at purchasing codeine from area drug stores, using associates to illicitly buy the pharmaceuticals under a real doctor’s name. Federal prosecutors, who had already accused the rapper of breaking the terms of his house arrest, quickly moved to revoke his pre-trial release altogether.MOTOWN LEGEND FIRES BACK – Motown Records founder Berry Gordy Jr. fired back after being named as a defendant in an ugly legal battle pitting his son against a former business advisor and romantic partner, calling it a “craven, desperate, and disgusting attempt” to “shake down” his family.
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This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Legal experts raise concerns about Tennessee’s new ELVIS Act and other laws aimed at AI-powered voice cloning; Jelly Roll faces a trademark lawsuit from a Philadelphia wedding band with the same name; Taylor Swift and other artists get their music back on TikTok; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Are New AI Voice Laws Going Too Far?
State and federal lawmakers across the country are scrambling to crack down on voice cloning – an effort cheered on by the music industry and artists. But some legal experts are worried such laws might be an “overreaction” that could have unintended consequences.
With last month’s enactment of the ELVIS Act, Tennessee became the first state in the country to pass legislation aimed at protecting artists from situations like last year’s infamous fake Drake song. At least five other states are considering similar bills, and a federal version is currently being debated on Capitol Hill.
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Those laws address a very real problem – namely, that artificial intelligence tools have made it far easier to convincingly mimic a real person’s voice, and existing laws seem only to provide them with limited recourse to stop it.
But while legislative efforts to fix that have been broadly supported by the music industry, they’ve met a more mixed reaction among some legal experts, who are concerned that the rush to pass new laws could lead to collateral damage for free speech and other “innocuous” behavior – ranging from tribute bands to interpolations.
Other top stories this week…
JELLY ROLL TRADEMARK SUIT – The rapper-turned-country star was hit with a trademark infringement lawsuit from a well-known Philadelphia wedding band that has used the name Jellyroll for decades. The case claims that Jelly Roll’s increasing popularity over the past two years has flooded the market with the name, making it difficult for prospective clients to find “Philly’s favorite wedding band.”
TIKTOK & TAYLOR – Why is music from Taylor Swift and certain other Universal Music Group artists back on TikTok, despite an ongoing licensing feud that has seen the music giant pull its catalog from the social media platform for months? As explained by Billboard’s Elias Leight and Kristin Robinson, the answer mostly boils down to leverage and good lawyering.
LIVE NATION TO FACE SUIT – The U.S. Department of Justice is reportedly planning to sue Live Nation within a matter of weeks over alleged violations of federal antitrust laws, including that the company leveraged it dominant position over the live music industry to undermine competition for ticketing. The case follows years of antitrust criticism of Live Nation, which increased in intensity after the company’s botched handling of ticket sales for Taylor Swift’s “Eras” tour in November 2022.
NewJeans in LA on March 6, 2024.
Sami Drasin
K-POP DEFAMATION BATTLE – The K-pop group NewJeans asked a U.S. federal court to force Google to unmask an anonymous YouTube user so that the person can be criminally prosecuted in South Korea for posting “false and defamatory videos.” The case that highlighted the stark differences between defamation laws in America and Korea – where even true statements can get you hauled into court, and criminal convictions can lead to “imprisonment with labor for up to seven years.”
PANDORA HITS BACK AT MLC – The streaming service fired back at a lawsuit filed by the Mechanical Licensing Collective that claims the company has failed to properly pay streaming royalties, calling the case a “gross overreach” based on a “legally incoherent position.” The case centers on whether Pandora’s free ad-supported service is an “interactive” platform like Spotify, or more similar to a “noninteractive” radio broadcast – a key distinction under the federal copyright laws that govern royalty payments.
FAKE MERCH, REAL PROBLEMS – Bootleg artist merchandise is a big problem, as attorneys for the biggest stars in the world say they send countless takedown notices annually but that they face “a game of Whack-a-Mole” with few easy answers. Go read Billboard’s story from Steve Knopper, who chatted with numerous lawyers on the front lines in the war against fake merch.
RADIO RIGHTS SETTLEMENT – Global Music Rights, Irving Azoff’s boutique performance rights organization that reps Bruce Springsteen, Bruno Mars, Prince, Drake and others, settled a copyright infringement lawsuit in which it had accused seven Vermont radio stations of refusing to license the group’s music.
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: Mary J. Blige’s 1992 “Real Love” draws a new copyright case over an oft-sampled funk song with a long history in both hip hop and music law; Madonna strikes back against angry fans who sued over delayed concerts; Morgan Wallen is charged with multiple felonies after allegedly throwing a chair from the roof of a Nashville bar; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Sampling Saga
If you’ve listened to any significant amount of rap music over the past 30 years, you’ve probably heard “Impeach the President” by the Honey Drippers — a legendary piece of hip-hop source material with a drum track that’s been sampled or interpolated literally hundreds of times, including by Run-DMC, Biggie, Tupac, Dr. Dre and many others.
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And, allegedly, by Mary J. Blige.
In a lawsuit filed last week, Tuff City Records claimed that Blige’s 1992 classic “Real Love,” which spent 31 weeks on the Hot 100 in 1992, featured an unlicensed sample from “Impeach.” The case claims that Universal Music Publishing has “repeatedly refused” to pay for the underlying composition, even though UMG Recordings has already agreed to a deal covering the master.
The new lawsuit is the latest chapter in a story dating back several decades, starting with a seminal 1991 case over an LL Cool J song that also featured “Impeach” – a legal battle that would ultimately prove to be the beginning of fundamental changes to how the music industry and the courts treated sampling.
Other top stories this week…
MADONNA CONCERT CLASH – The Material Girl fired back at a class action lawsuit filed by New York City fans who are angry that her concerts started later than scheduled, asking for the case to be dismissed. Madonna’s attorneys argued that needing to “wake up early the next day for work” is not the kind of “cognizable injury” someone can sue over, and that “no Madonna fan” has a “reasonable expectation” that her shows will start on time.
LAST NIGHT (ALLEGEDLY) – Morgan Wallen was arrested in Nashville and charged with three felony counts of reckless endangerment over accusations that he threw a chair off the six-story roof of a popular bar on the city’s bustling Broadway street, allegedly narrowly missing several police officers. He was later released on bond, and his lawyer told Billboard he was “cooperating fully with authorities.”
RAMONES MOVIE LAWSUIT – Joey Ramone‘s brother (Mickey Leigh) responded to a lawsuit filed by Johnny Ramone’s widow (Linda Cummings-Ramone) over a planned Netflix movie about the pioneering punk band, calling the case “baseless and flimsy” and arguing that she actually signed off on such a project years ago.
AI COPYRIGHT DISCLOSURE BILL – Rep. Adam Schiff (D-Calif.) introduced new legislation in the U.S. House of Representatives that would require AI companies to disclose which copyrighted works were used to train their models, or face a financial penalty. The measure would not directly require payment to artists, but would certainly make it easier for copyright owners to file infringement cases against AI companies demanding such compensation.
NEW DIDDY ABUSE CASE – Sean “Diddy” Combs was hit with yet another sexual abuse case, this time centering on allegations that his son Christian “King” Combs assaulted a staffer on a luxury yacht in the Caribbean. The case, one of many against Diddy over the past six months, claimed that he “encouraged an environment of debauchery” that enabled his son’s behavior.
ACCUSER’S LAWYER CRITICIZED – Tyrone Blackburn, an attorney who has filed two of the pending sexual abuse cases against Combs, could be facing potential discipline himself. In a scathing ruling last week, a federal judge in an unrelated lawsuit referred him to the court’s grievance committee over his “pattern of behavior” in which he allegedly “improperly files cases in federal court to garner media attention, embarrass defendants with salacious allegations, and pressure defendants to settle quickly.”
ROD WAVE ARRESTED OVER SHOOTING – The rapper was arrested on gun charges in Florida over alleged connections to a shooting last month at a sports bar in St. Petersburg. At a press conference after the arrest, police claimed that the alleged assailants used a getaway car registered to Wave and fled to a house he had rented, where they later discovered two assault rifles and other evidence.
MORE BIZARRE DONDA CLAIMS – Kanye West was hit with another lawsuit filed by a former employee at his Donda Academy, this time accusing him of discriminating against Black staffers. Like the several previous cases from former staffers, the case included bizarre allegations about conditions inside the school – including that West told students to “shave their heads” and that he “intended to put a jail at the school” where students could be “locked in cages.”
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: Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo battle over the rights to the name of their Neptunes producing partnership; UMG and Lucian Grainge hit back at “offensively false” accusations linking them to Diddy’s alleged abuse; Sony wins nearly $1 million in damages from a TikTok rapper over an uncleared sample; and much more.
THE BIG STORY: Pharrell and Chad Hugo Battle Over ‘Neptunes’
You might not have heard of The Neptunes, but if you were alive during the early 2000s, you’ve certainly heard a Neptunes song.
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The prolific producing partnership, comprised of Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo, was responsible for countless earworms from that era: Nelly’s “Hot in Herre,” Snoop Dogg’s “Drop It Like It’s Hot,” Gwen Stefani’s “Hollaback Girl,” Justin Timberlake’s “Rock Your Body,” Britney Spears’ “I’m a Slave 4 U” and many, many others.
But 20 years on, something is rotten in the state of Neptune.
In a legal action filed last week, attorneys for Hugo accused Pharrell and his company of attempting to unilaterally register trademarks for the Neptunes name – a move they say violates their longstanding agreement that saw the pair split everything equally: “By ignoring and excluding [Hugo] from the any and all applications filed by applicant for the mark ‘The Neptunes,’ applicant has committed fraud in securing the trademarks and acted in bad faith.”
Go read our entire story on the dispute here, including a response from Pharrell.
Other top stories this week…
TOP MUSIC LAWYERS – Billboard revealed its 2024 list of Top Music Lawyers, featuring the best legal minds — both in-house and at law firms — who propel the industry forward by negotiating deals, litigating disputes and shaping policy. At the top of this year’s list was Christine Lepera, a go-to music litigator who has represented Katy Perry, Drake, Jay-Z, Post Malone and many others in high profile cases. This past year, Lepera beat back a copyright lawsuit against Dua Lipa over “Levitating,” and won a key decision for Daryl Hall in his messy dispute with John Oates.
“OFFENSIVELY FALSE” – Attorneys for Universal Music Group CEO Lucian Grainge fired back at a lawsuit that claims he and the label “aided and abetted” Sean “Diddy” Combs in his alleged sexual abuse, arguing that the accusations are so “offensively false” that they plan to seek legal penalties against the lawyer who filed them. “A license to practice law is a privilege,” Grainge’s attorney Donald Zakarin wrote. “Plaintiff’s lawyer has misused that license…”
TIKTOK RAPPER PAYS THE PRICE – A federal judge ruled that Trefeugo, a rapper popular on TikTok, must pay Sony Music more than $800,000 in damages for using a copyrighted sample without permission in his “90mh” — a track that Sony claimed was streamed 100 million times on Spotify. “The court hopes this case will serve as a $802,997.23 lesson for defendant in carefully selecting the materials included in his raps.”
ASTROWORLD UPDATE – With a trial looming next month, Travis Scott asked to be dismissed from the sprawling litigation over the 2021 disaster at the Astroworld music festival. Attorneys for the star (led by Dan Petrocelli) argued that safety and security at live events is “not the job of performing artists” – even in the case of someone like Scott, who conceptualized and heavily promoted the event the festival with his own branding.
LINKIN PARK SETTLEMENT – The band’s members reached a settlement to end a lawsuit that accused them of refusing to pay royalties to Kyle Christner, an ex-bassist who briefly played with the band in the late 1990s before they hit it big. In a statement, Linkin Park said it had reached an “amicable resolution” and acknowledged that Christner made “valuable contributions” at a “pivotal time.”
JAMES DOLAN ABUSE CASE – Attorneys for Madison Square Garden executive James Dolan fired back at a lawsuit that alleges he pressured a masseuse into unwanted sex while his band was touring with the Eagles, calling his accuser an “opportunist” who is “looking for a quick payday” over “completely manufactured” allegations.