Legal news
Tom Petty Estate Hits Kari Lake with Cease and Desist Over “I Won’t Back Down” Usage
Tom Petty’s estate has sent a cease and desist notice to failed Arizona gubenortial candidate Kari Lake over her use of Petty’s song “I Won’t Back Down.” The Republican candidate — who was endorsed by Donald Trump and spouted misinformation about the 2020 election throughout her campaign — lost her gubernatorial race to Katie Hobbs, a Democrat Lake has said should be imprisoned for helping “steal” the presidency from Trump. Lake posted a video using “I Won’t Back Down” to social media, implying that she refused to concede the position to Hobbs, but it was later taken down. “The Tom Petty estate and our partners were shocked to find out that Tom’s song “I Won’t Back Down” was stolen and used without permission or a license to promote Kari Lake’s failed campaign,” the late artist’s fami...
Live Nation Faces Justice Department Antitrust Investigation: Report
The US Justice Department has reportedly opened an antitrust investigation into Live Nation. According to the New York Times, the Justice Department’s antitrust division has “contacted music venues and players in the ticket market, asking about Live Nation’s practices and the wider dynamics of the industry.” Specific questions have centered around whether Live Nation has honored a consent decree the company made with the Justice Department upon its merger with Ticketmaster in 2010, in which Live Nation promised not to punish concert venues who used competing ticket platforms by withholding access to Live Nation-promoted tours. The Justice Department previously found evidence of Live Nation engaging in such behavior after launching an investigation in 2018. Under terms of the ensuing settle...
Judge Says Slacker Must Pay $10M Unpaid Royalties, Despite Warning Of ‘Devastating’ Impact
A federal judge says he won’t undo his ruling that Slacker owes nearly $10 million in unpaid music royalties to SoundExchange, seemingly unmoved by the streamer’s warning that the ruling will have a “devastating” impact on the company’s finances. SoundExchange claims Slacker’s parent LiveOne has failed to pay royalties for years, and last month won a ruling requiring the streamer to hand over $9,765,396. Slacker said last month that the huge judgment could trigger financial ruin for the company – a warning SoundExchange urged the court to disregard. In a decision issued Wednesday, Judge André Birotte Jr. did exactly that. He ruled that the seven-figure judgment was simply the result of an agreement that Slacker itself had signed – and noted that the streamer was not actually legally disput...
Kevin Spacey Charged With Seven More Counts of Sexual Assault in the UK
Kevin Spacey will be charged with seven more counts of sexual assault in the UK, ABC News reports. The charges stem from one victim who alleges a number of incidents occurred in 2001 and 2004. According to the Crown Prosecution Service, Spacey will face three counts of indecent assault, three counts of sexual assault, and one count of causing a person to engage in sexual activity without consent. “The Crown Prosecution Service reminds all concerned that criminal proceedings against Mr. Spacey are active and that he has the right to a fair trial,” Rosemary Ainslie, head of the CPS Special Crime Division, said in a statement. These seven charges follow four counts of sexual assault Spacey faced by the Crown Prosecution Service back in May. The actor was additionally charged with one cou...
Andy Dick Sentenced to 90 Days in Jail, Must Register as a Sex Offender
Andy Dick has been sentenced to 90 days in jail and will be required to register as a sex offender, the The Blast reports. The sentencing comes after the disgraced comedian was recently convicted of sexual battery, stemming from a 2018 incident in which a Los Angeles Uber driver accused Dick of groping him. Dick will check himself into the Los Angeles County Jail starting November 17th. When his sentence is complete, he will spend 12 months closely monitored on “summary probation.” He was also ordered to complete 52 Alcoholics Anonymous sessions, 52 sexual compulsion anonymous sessions, 12 mental health counseling sessions, and pay restitution to the victim. Advertisement Related Video As we’ve reported multiple times in the past, Dick — who’s also defended similarly-shunned Hollywood...
Dua Lipa’s Lawyers Blast ‘Levitating’ Copyright Lawsuit: ‘Devoid of a Shred of Factual Detail’
Attorneys for Dua Lipa are asking a federal judge to quickly toss out a lawsuit claiming she stole her smash hit song “Levitating” from a little-known reggae track, calling the allegations “speculative,” “vague” and supported by little real evidence. Members of the Florida band Artikal Sound System sued Lipa earlier this year, claiming her 2020 smash hit – which spent 77 weeks on the Billboard Hot 100 chart – borrowed its core hook from their 2017 song “Live Your Life.” But in a motion to dismiss the case filed Monday (Nov. 14), Lipa’s lawyers said there was no sign that anyone involved in creating “Levitating” ever even had access to the earlier song – a key requirement in any copyright lawsuit. Artikal Sound System’s attempts to show such a connection, they said, were “tortured.” “They a...
Kanye West Can’t Sell “White Lives Matter” Shirts Because Two Black Men Own the Trademark
There’s a lot of reasons to worry about Kanye West right now, but at least we can cross those White Lives Matter shirts off the list: Should he ever decide to sell the fascist garb he donned with Candace Owens at an October Yeezy fashion show, he won’t be able to legally, because two Black men (brilliantly) own the legal trademark. As Capital B reports, an anonymous longtime listener of the Phoenix-based radio show Civic Cipher applied for ownership of the phrase “White Lives Matter” in an effort to keep it out of the wrong hands. The listener offered to gift it to Civic Cipher hosts Ramses Ja and Quinton Ward, giving them sole ownership of the phrase and the ability to sue anyone who tries to use it for financial gain. “The way the law works is either you’re owning phrases, or it’s u...
Music Companies Must Now Include Salary Ranges on New York Job Postings
A new New York City law requiring employers to disclose salary ranges in job postings has officially gone into effect this week, with music companies hiring in the city mandated to comply. On the first day of the law, a picture of at least one of the major music companies’ salary ranges has come into focus. The day the law went into effect, several companies were criticized for overly-broad salary ranges that effectively subverted the point of the regulation, which was designed to give prospective employees insight into what they could be expected to earn at different companies in the city and address salary discrepancies between men and women and for people of color. The Wall Street Journal, for instance, posted reporting and producing jobs with ranges between $40,000 to $160,000; te...
The Legal Beat: Kanye’s Lawyers Cut Ties – Plus Slacker, Coachella and More
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: Major law firms cut ties with Kanye West over his antisemitic comments, Slacker fights with SoundExchange over a huge royalties judgment, Coachella sues a nearby business called “Coachillin,” and much more. THE BIG STORY: Kanye West Is Running Out of Lawyers After a string of antisemitic statements earlier this month, Kanye West has lost nearly every aspect of his once-formidable business empire. His representatives at CAA have dropped him, and his signature fashion partnerships with Adidas, The Gap and Balenciaga have all been terminated. You can now add his lawyers to that list. Cadwalader Wic...
Harvey Weinstein Defense Focuses on His Abnormal Testicles
Harvey Weinstein’s lawyers are arguing during his Los Angeles sexual assault trial that his accusers are unreliable because their accounts failed to mention his abnormal testicles. The topic has already come up several times, Variety reports, and is expected to remain a focus of ensuing testimony. During opening statements to the jury, the prosecutor, deputy D.A. Paul Thompson, spoke about a 1999 surgery that relocated portions of Weinstein’s genitalia. “Because of an infection, his testicles were actually taken from his scrotum and put into his inner thighs,” he said. On October 24th, Jane Doe #1 took the stand. A European model who spoke with the help of a translator, she accused Weinstein of a violent hotel room assault in 2013. She said Weinstein forced her to perform or...
Elon Musk Officially Closes Twitter Deal, Fires Top Executives
After much deliberation and legal back-and-forth, Elon Musk has officially finalized his purchase of Twitter. He closed the $44 billion deal late on Thursday, October 27th. Per The Washington Post, one of Musk’s first moves was firing top Twitter executives including CEO Parag Agrawal, chief financial officer Ned Segal, and Vijaya Gadde, head of legal policy, trust, and safety. The company’s general counsel, Sean Edgett, was also let go. “The reason I acquired Twitter is because it is important to the future of civilization to have a common digital town square, where a wide range of beliefs can be debated in a healthy manner, without resorting to violence,” Musk wrote on Twitter prior to formalizing the deal. “I didn’t do it to make money. I did it to help humanity, whom I love.” Advertise...
Britney Spears’ Lawyer Says Jamie Spears Shared Pop Star’s Private Medical Information
Britney Spears‘ father and his lawyers should be sanctioned and found in contempt of court for disclosing confidential medical information on his daughter that was under seal, the pop star’s lawyer said Wednesday (Oct. 26) at a hearing that ended with no decision on the issue. “They’re trying to embarrass Britney Spears and bully Britney Spears, while trying to vindicate Jamie Spears,” said attorney Mathew Rosengart. The sealed exhibits were included in a motion from Jamie Spears filed in July to compel the deposition of his daughter, which was denied. After the filing was submitted, Rosengart was forced to move to seal the motion to compel. Alex Weingarten, representing Jamie Spears, challenged the sealing. “Why did he oppose the sealing motion?” Rosengart asked. He urged L.A. Superior Co...
