Legal and Management
Cosby’s Sex Assault Conviction Goes Before High-Level Court
“There was a built-in level of trust because of his status in the entertainment industry and because he held himself out as a public moralist,” said Assistant District Attorney Adrienne Jappe, of suburban Philadelphia’s Montgomery County, where Constand says she was assaulted at Cosby’s estate in 2004. “The signature was isolating and intoxicating young women for the purpose of sexually assaulting them,” Jappe said. Cosby has served more than two years of his three- to 10-year prison sentence for drugging and molesting Constand, whom he met through the basketball program at his alma mater, Temple University. Courts have long wrestled with decisions about when other accusers should be allowed to testify in criminal cases. It’s generally not allowed, but state law permits a few exceptions, i...
Hip-Hop Streaming Platform Spinrilla Found Liable for Users’ Copyright Infringement
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg granted summary judgment in favor of the RIAA on the issue of liability and rejected Spinrilla’s DMCA Safe Harbor defense. Totenberg notes that the 11th Circuit hasn’t yet considered whether direct copyright infringement must be willful, but finds “even if volitional conduct is required to prove direct infringement, the cases on which Plaintiffs rely have all held that the affirmative act of streaming constitutes direct infringement of the copyright holder’s exclusive right of performance regardless of the fact that the streaming occurs at the request of the user.” She continues, “Defendants have created an interactive internet player that streams copyrighted content directly from its website and mobile app. In doin...
U.K. Judge Refuses Johnny Depp Permission to Appeal Libel Ruling
In a ruling made public on Wednesday, the judge also ordered Depp to make an initial payment of almost 630,000 pounds ($840,000) to News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, to cover its legal fees. Depp can still apply directly to the Court of Appeal, and has until Dec. 7 to do so. The judge’s main ruling came after a three-week trial in which Depp and Heard gave conflicting accounts of their brief, tempestuous marriage. In the wake of the decision, Depp said he was leaving the Fantastic Beasts film franchise after studio Warner Bros. requested his resignation. Depp is also suing Heard for $50 million in Virginia over a Washington Post op-ed essay that she wrote about domestic violence. The essay talks about her experience being abused but does not name Depp. The trial is due to be hel...
Radiohead, Elbow Members Call for Better Streaming Royalties at Opening of UK Parliament Probe
Garvey and Radiohead guitarist Ed O’Brien were among a group of four artists and two industry analysts that provided evidence on the first day of the inquiry, which is anticipated to stretch for several months and will call upon executives at major labels and streaming platforms to answer questions. The Parliament probe — which so far is being done with witnesses testifying virtually, as the U.K. is in lockdown — is also addressing a lack of transparency in record contracts and opaque accounting practices, safe harbor provisions and the European Copyright Directive, which will hold online user-generated services like YouTube liable for unlicensed content. The inquiry comes at a time when the coronavirus pandemic has decimated income from touring, focusing artists’ attenti...
R. Kelly Lawyer Says Singer Is ‘Suffering’ Mentally as Trial Date Set for April
A federal judge has ordered a start date in the trial of singer R. Kelly, according to information provided by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of New York. In a schedule set down by U.S. District Court Judge Ann M. Donnelly, jury questionnaires will be distributed between March 15 and March 25, 2021, jury selection begins April 6 and the trial kicks off on April 7. Kelly is facing charges in New York of racketeering, coercion of a minor, transportation of a minor and coercion to engage in illegal sexual activity relating to six different victims. The indictment alleges that for over two decades, R. Kelly was the leader of a racketeering enterprise made up of managers, bodyguards, drivers, personal assistants and runners who recruited women and girls to engage in illegal...
Wixen Music Publishing Hits Triller With $50M Copyright Lawsuit
Wixen Music Publishing is suing short-form video-sharing app Triller for $50 million alleging copyright infringement on more than 1,000 songs. Wixen claims that Triller has been “willfully infringing” its musical compositions by allowing its users to include them in videos without authorization or compensation, according to the 15-page federal complaint filed U.S. Central District of California Western Division on Tuesday. Triller’s app, similar to TikTok’s, allows users to create and share short videos that typically include music. Wixen, who administers more than 50,000 songs written and owned by its more than 2,000 clients — Tom Petty, Neil Young and Missy Elliott among them — alleges that many of their compositions are being used in the app without the proper licenses...
Naya Rivera’s Drowning Sparks Wrongful Death Lawsuit
Naya Rivera’s July 8 death in Lake Piru has sparked a wrongful death lawsuit against Ventura County, Calif., on behalf of her young son, who was on the water with her that day. The suit was filed Tuesday in Ventura County Court on behalf of the 4-year-old by his father Ryan Dorsey, Rivera’s estate and the late actress’ business manager. They’re suing not only the county, but also United Water Conservation District and Parks and Recreation Management for allegedly failing to warn visitors of the dangers of the lake and outfit the boat with the requisite safety equipment. {“nid”:”9448042″,”type”:”post”,”title”:”Autopsy Report Indicates Naya Rivera Called for Help as She Drowned”,”relative_pa...
Britney Spears ‘Will Not Perform Again’ If Father Controls Career
The pop star has been on an indefinite work hiatus since early 2019. James Spears’ attorney, Vivian Lee Thoreen, defended what she said was his perfect record in his run as her conservator, which has seen her net worth go from in debt to well over $60 million. Thoreen argued that the disruption caused by his removal would do her the very harm the suspension is meant to prevent. “I don’t believe there is a shred of evidence to support my client’s suspension,” she said. Thoreen also objected to Ingham’s statements about the father-daughter relationship as inadmissible hearsay. The judge did approve that a corporate fiduciary, the Bessemer Trust, will now serve as co-conservator over her estate along with her father, which Britney Spears had requested. Most of the attorneys involved, along wi...
Johnny Depp Loses U.K. Libel Case Over ‘Wife-Beater’ Claims
In arguably the biggest English libel trials of the 21st century, Depp sued News Group Newspapers, publisher of The Sun, and its executive editor, Dan Wootton, over an April 2018 article that accused him of assaulting fellow actor Heard. The ruling deals a big blow to Depp’s reputation that could imperil his career, which has seen the actor take the lead in some of the most popular family movies in recent times, from Edward Scissorhands to most lucratively the Pirates of the Caribbean franchise. That reputational cost clearly comes with an indeterminate financial cost on top of the several millions pounds in legal costs he will likely be required to pay following Monday’s ruling. A lawyer for Depp, 57, described the decision as “perverse as it is bewildering.” “The judgment is so...
Top Music Execs & Their Employees Aren’t Donating to the Same Political Candidates
“I don’t love that [Phil] supports all these right wing causes, but his political beliefs are so far detached from the work we do and our company values,” explains one high ranking executive, who notes that despite being very conservative, Anschutz supports LGBT causes and has given millions to groups some describe as being left of center. Employees at Liberty Media, which owns SiriusXM, Pandora and a 35% stake in Live Nation, for the first time ever have given more money to Democratic candidates than Republican ones. In 2020, individuals at the company gave $209,374 to Democrats and $92,485 to Republicans — more than a 2-1 margin. Back in 2016, Democrats only received $134,636 while $385,700 was spent on Republican candidates, while in 2012, only $12,500 was spent on Democrats with ...
What’s Really Going On With Q Prime, Ron Burkle & Red Hot Chili Peppers
Hits retracted its story on Wednesday, saying, “The fact is, we fucked up. We apologize to Red Hot Chili Peppers, Eric [Greenspan, the band’s lawyer] and Guy O for any disruption we’ve caused.” Here’s what really happened: Earlier this month, a well known promoter introduced Burkle to Q Prime founders Cliff Burnstein and Peter Mensch, as Burkle explores buying several management firms during the pandemic and folding them into a larger management group company, similar to Live Nation-backed firm Maverick. They discussed a deal, but no numbers were finalized and there was no formal offer on the table. Then the Chili Peppers told Mensch they were taking management inhouse, difficult news for the band’s manager of 20 years. “The article [that followed] was like a double gut punch” says o...
Executive Turntable: Atlantic Shuffles Marketing Department, Sony & Tencent Solidify Liquid State Label Head
Elsewhere at Atlantic, the label has announced that David Grant will move from New York to Los Angeles to take on the role of senior vp, marketing and head of marketing for film & TV soundtracks. In his dual role, Grant will continue running key projects from Why Don’t We, Ben Platt, Reiley and more. He will jointly report to Sinclair and Atlantic’s West Coast president Kevin Weaver. Sony Music Masterworks and independent touring professionals Stephen Lindsay and Brett Sirota have formed RoadCo Entertainment, a brand-new booking agency that specializes in live family entertainment. RoadCo will develop and produce live events and interactive attractions based on popular brands and pre-existing intellectual properties while collaborating with Sony Masterworks and the broader Sony network...
