A group of lawyers representing Soundgarden, Hole, singer/songwriter Steve Earle, the estate of the Tupac Shakur and the late-Tom Petty‘s ex-wife, Jane, have filed a class-action lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG). It seeks damage compensation as a result of the controversial Universal Studios fire which allegedly destroyed more than 500,000 archived master audio recordings in June …
A California college student injured in the Las Vegas music festival massacre filed a lawsuit Wednesday against the hotel owners, the concert promoter and bump stock manufacturers, claiming they were all liable in the mass shooting. The claims against MGM Resorts International, which owns both Mandalay Bay and the concert venue that hosted the festival, raise more questions about a timeline that has changed numerous times — and, according to Clark County Sheriff Joe Lombardo, could change again. …
Major record labels are once again trying to force an Internet service provider into enforcing their copyrights by cutting off customers from the Internet over copyright accusations. The lawsuit they filed against Texas broadband provider Grande Communications suffers from many of the same due process problems as the BMG Music Publishing v. Cox Communications case, which is on appeal. The issue …
A lawsuit has been filed that claims Beyonce sampled lyrics from a deceased New Orleans artist without permission. Beyonce did not credit artist Messy Mya, whose real name is Anthony Barre, or pay his estate for use, according to a complaint filed Feb. 2 by Barre’s sister, Angel Barre, in the U.S. District Court in Louisiana. She represents Barre’s estate.
Sirius XM Satellite Radio’s recent settlement with ex-members of the 60s rock group The Turtles over royalty payments for old recordings has the potential to solidify the dominant position of big music services like Sirius XM, at the expense of new music services, independent and Web-based radio stations, and the listening public. If approved by the court, the settlement would give Sirius XM …
The good news for Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke is that their 2013 track, “Blurred Lines,” is still being talked about all these years and pop songs later. The bad news is that most of the chatter has been about the copyright lawsuit brought by Marvin Gaye’s family, who claimed that Williams had infringed on the late singer’s “Got To Give It Up.” Last year, a jury found in favor of the …
The acrimonious history between Ozzy Osbourne and his former bassist and songwriting partner Bob Daisley added another chapter when Daisley took Osbourne to court for unpaid royalties earlier this month — and now Daisley is responding to accusations of “harassment” from the Osbournes. Daisley delved into his reasons for filing suit in an interview with Joel Gausten, and it’s well worth reading …
Last September, federal judge George King ruled that “Happy Birthday to You,” the iconic song sung at children’s parties everywhere daily, was not subject to copyright protection as previously thought. Now free from the grasp of music publishing company Warner Chappell, it’s free to be used by anyone, anywhere, for any purpose, with only a specific arrangement covered by the 1035 copyright …
A federal judge will decide whether to give the final sign off to the settlement of a class action lawsuit challenging Warner/Chappell Music’s claim to the song “Happy Birthday to You” after a group of plaintiffs contended that it is in the public domain. U.S. District Judge George King will consider the settlement of the case that calls for a $14 million fund to compensate those who licensed …
As his attorneys seek to have a former drummer’s lawsuit thrown out of court, Eddie Money has posted a lengthy message to fans on Facebook about his issues with Glenn Symmonds. Symmonds is suing Money for unlawful termination and has also accused Money of sexually harassing his girlfriend. In the posting Money calls the allegations “preposterous and downright evil” and writes that Glenn …