Legal and Management
Hipgnosis Raises $215 Million With Stock Offering, Exceeding Target
“I am once again delighted with the support from both our existing and new shareholders with an oversubscribed raise of over $215 million, £156 million,” said Hipgnosis founder Merck Mercuriadis in a statement. “We will deploy this immediately into our pipeline of songs and I am incredibly appreciative of the incredible songwriters who have entrusted us with their iconic works. We will now have a portfolio of almost $2.5 billion of extraordinarily successful and culturally important songs, which offers a massive opportunity for us to add value with our Song Management which manages these songs with bandwidth and responsibility.” As the company announced last month, Hipgnosis expects to use the proceeds from the placing to acquire catalogs already lined up by The Family (Music) Limite...
A Timeline of Britney Spears’ Conservatorship
Spears’ voice was finally heard in a rare court appearance in June 2021 when Britney explicitly addressed her desire to end her “abusive” conservatorship and went into painstaking detail about how much control she’s been under. Billboard compiled a timeline of the major markers in Britney Spears’ conservatorship over the last decade-plus. Jan. 3 and 31, 2008: Britney Goes to the Hospital on a 5150 Hold Twice Britney is taken to UCLA Medical Center and placed on a psychiatric hold for mental evaluation, otherwise known as a 5150 hold, after refusing to relinquish custody of her children to her ex-husband and the father of her sons, Kevin Federline. Weeks later, Britney returns to the hospital under the same 5150 psychiatric hold. Feb. 1, 2008: Britney Is ...
Iggy Azalea Claims Britney Spears’ Dad Made Her Sign an NDA Before a Performance
“During the time we worked together in 2015, I personally witnessed the same behavior Britney detailed in regards to her father last week and I just want to back her up & tell the world that: She is not exaggerating or lying,” Azalea wrote. “I saw her restricted from even the most bizarre & trivial things: like how many sodas she was allowed to drink. Why is that even necessary. “Her father conveniently waited until literally moments before our [Billboard Music Awards] performance when I was backstage in the dressing room & told me if I did not sign an NDA he would not allow me on stage,” the rapper claimed. “The way he went about getting me to sign a contract, sounded similar to the tactics Britney spoke about last week in reg...
Ashley Morgan Smithline Felt Her ‘Life Was Definitely in Danger’ With Marilyn Manson
The statement, which was provided to both The View and to Rolling Stone, Warner’s rep “strongly” denied Smithline’s claims. “There are so many falsehoods within her claims that we wouldn’t know where to begin to answer them,” the statement continued. “This relationship, to the limited extent it was a relationship, lasted less than a week in 2010. Manson hasn’t seen Ms. Smithline since then.” Ellwanger also responded to the statement, telling The View hosts, “It’s one thing to issue a statement to the media and it’s another thing to respond to a lawsuit. And we’ll look forward to seeing what the evidence shows in this case, and the evidence will back up the claims made in the complaint.” Earlier in the interview, Smithline told the co-hosts that Manson’s abuse, which she says involved rape ...
LA Courts End Remote Audio Program After Illicit Britney Spears Recording Surfaces
When asked what is the court’s general policy is on taking action if a proceeding is recorded without permission, L.A. County Superior Court Communications Director Ann E. Donlan said only: “Parties who publish unauthorized recordings of court proceedings in violation of a court order are subject to sanctions and other potential liability pursuant to California Code of Civil Procedure section 1209 and other applicable law.” Penny, at the beginning of the hearing, not only reminded those listening about the policy against recording but also warned against live-tweeting and told those physically in the courtroom that they needed to use a pen and paper instead of a laptop for their notes. Still, audio of Spears testimony began circulating just hours after the hearing, including in a YouTube p...
How Will #FreeBritney Deal With a ‘Ruthless’ Probate System? Law Experts Assess
After Spears gave a lengthy, emotional statement about her desire to end the arrangement, Judge Brenda Penny told Spears’ court-appointed lawyer, Samuel D. Ingham III, to file a formal petition. Benny Roshan, chair of Greenberg Glusker’s trusts and probate litigation group, says probate code is vague when it comes to termination protocols. (It merely says, “If the court determines that the conservatorship is no longer required or that grounds for establishment of a conservatorship of the person or estate, or both, no longer exist, the court shall make this finding and shall enter judgment terminating the conservatorship accordingly.”) Penny will have wide latitude when it comes to what factors into her decision. “The statute does not specify the type...
Dr. Luke Suffers Blow on Road to Libel Trial Against Kesha
And on appeal, a New York appeals court stunned many legal observers and press advocates by agreeing that even though Dr. Luke is world famous and has worked with the industry’s biggest musicians, he’s a private figure who needn’t go so far as to have to demonstrate that Kesha was grossly irresponsible with her public accusation. But what has change the course of this case is how the state of New York recently passed a law intended to protect free speech from frivolous litigation. Thanks to the anti-SLAPP statute, there are now situations where private figures have to demonstrate actual malice to prevail. That would be in instances where free speech is exercised with respect to issues of public concern. During oral arguments today, the big question was whether New ...
Jay-Z’s Lawyer and Damon Dash Clash Over Truth, NFTs and Conflict of Interest
Roc-A-Fella was founded in 1995 by Dash, Jay-Z and Kareem “Biggs” Burke, each of whom own a third of the company. Dash writes that he does not oppose the preliminary restraining order preventing him from selling the Reasonable Doubt copyright, “as I do not own the copyright nor have I ever represented that I do.” The Roc-A-Fella lawsuit allegations are based on a press release promoting the Reasonable Doubt NFT sale, but Dash claims that the press release for the since-cancelled auction was incorrect. Dash says that what he was actually attempting to sell as an NFT was his one-third ownership of Roc-A-Fella, which he says Jay-Z tried to buy at a low price in March (and suggests that the lawsuit was Jay-Z’s form of revenge). As such, Dash writes ...
Roblox and Twitch Are Gaming the System Against Songwriters (Guest Op-Ed)
The company has made hundreds of millions of dollars on the backs of creators, including by requiring users to pay every time they upload music — taking advantage of largely young people’s lack of understanding about copyright — and then they take virtually no action to prevent repeat infringement or alert users to the risks they are taking. The fact that mostly children, who would have no idea whether Roblox has covered its legal bases, are the ones who are being taken advantage of is particularly egregious When confronted with the need to license in order to protect itself and its users, Roblox thus far has been defiant. Not only have they refused to pay for the songs they know are on the platform, they are trying to hide behind a misinterpretation of the DMCA to avoid liabil...
Spotify’s ‘Discovery Mode’ Is Payola, Just Not the Bad Kind (Guest Op-Ed)
Anyone with an internet connection can post their music to YouTube or Spotify. The challenge now is getting people to listen to it. To reach audiences, aspiring musicians can hook up with TikTok influencers who will dance to their songs for money. Or they can pay the thousands of independent playlisters on Spotify to add their tunes to popular playlists. An entire subindustry of social media music promotion has sprung up specifically to assist musicians with these endeavors. Historically, the justifications for regulating payola were (i) that it harmed consumers, and (ii) that it harmed competition. But as we describe in a forthcoming law review article exploring the history of payola, in the 1950s and 1960s, these “harms” were often used as a cover for run-of-the-mil...
Marilyn Manson Will Surrender to LA Authorities on New Hampshire Arrest Warrant
According to the report, Manson could be arraigned on the charges in New Hampshire’s Laconia District Court later this summer. The Hollywood Reporter has reached out to Manson’s attorney for comment. In February of this year, Evan Rachel Wood named Manson, whom she met when she was 18 and was once briefly engaged to, as her alleged abuser, calling him a “dangerous man.” In a statement posted to her Instagram account, the actress wrote, “He started grooming me when I was a teenager and horrifically abused me for years. I was brainwashed and manipulated into submission. I am done living in fear of retaliation, slander or blackmail.” Four other women also came forward with abuse claims. At the time, Manson denied the allegations in a statement posted to his social media account. An investigat...
Rihanna’s Savage x Fenty Sued for Trademark Infringement by Lingerie Company
“When a customer searches for Adore Me’s products offered under the ADORE ME Mark, the search results return Savage’s prominent use of the ADORE US Mark in connection with a link to Savage’s website, thus falsely indicating that clicking on that link will take the consumer to a site with products offered by, authorized by, or affiliated with Adore Me,” the lawsuit reads. As a result, it argues, the company “loses the opportunity to sell its other goods to consumers.” The complaint further accuses Savage of ignoring a cease-and-desist letter Adore Me sent to the company on June 4, 2021, as well as a follow-up sent on June 8. “Though it appeared that infringing advertisements were removed on or about June 8, 2021, Adore Me learned this week that they were again in use by Defendant,” the laws...
