Search Results for: rivals

The Notorious B.I.G.’s (Christopher Wallace) widow Faith Evans, his mother Voletta Wallace, his son Christopher Jr., and his daughter and her legal guardian have all joined together to file a wrongful-death lawsuit against the Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.), its current chief Bernard Parks, former chiefs Willie Williams and Bayan Lewis, and former police officer David Mack and Amir Muhammad, a man some believe was the triggerman in Notorious B.I.G.’s murder, although he was never formally charged. The rap star was murdered outside of the Petersen Automotive Museum on March 10, 1997, and his family feels that the L.A.P.D. could… Read more »

Facing a fusillade of legal attacks from an irate entertainment industry, free file-sharing Netco Streamcast Networks – like Napster before it – is seeking legitimacy by reaching out to independent artists with technology to help them distribute their music themselves. Franklin, Tenn.-based Streamcast says its new digital rights management software, dubbed Content Into Application, or CIntoA, will let artists choose the level of access that users will have to songs that they upload into the company’s Morpheus file-sharing network. The tracks can be programmed to offer a limited number of plays before a fee is required, or only a snippet… Read more »

For her second starring movie role, Mandy Moore is hoping to break from the goody-goody image she conveyed in her last film, “A Walk to Remember,” in which she played a minister’s naive teenage daughter who falls in love with the high school hunk. In the independent film “Try Seventeen,” which starts filming March 16 in Vancouver, Moore will play a more world-wise 21-year-old gal from the Midwest who knows a thing or two about partying and hanky-panky. The movie stars “Lord of the Rings” hero Elijah Wood as a 17-year-old who lies about his age to get into college… Read more »

A federal judge has delayed issuing a decision on the recording industry’s copyright infringement lawsuit against song-swap service Napster, giving the two sides until Feb. 17 to reach a settlement. A spokesman for Napster said Wednesday that U.S. District Court Judge Marilyn Hall Patel agreed to a Jan. 17 request for a 30-day stay on a summary judgment ruling. “We are optimistic that the good faith efforts that the parties have put into settlement and licensing discussions over the past several months will bring the litigation to a swift conclusion over the next several weeks, removing the last barrier to… Read more »

An Australian firm said yesterday that it has purchased and restarted KaZaa, the Dutch-born Internet file-sharing program that the world’s biggest media companies have sued for becoming the new Napster. Sharman Networks Ltd., a privately held multimedia company, purchased certain assets of KaZaa BV, including the popular KaZaa Media Desktop file- sharing program, Sharman chief executive officer Nikki Hemming said in a news release. KaZaa stopped all downloads of the free Media Desktop program last week pending a Dutch judge’s ruling in a copyright infringement case filed against the company in the Netherlands. But Sharman Networks resumed downloads yesterday morning,… Read more »

The vaults of long-gone-but-not-forgotten hip-hop pioneer Eric “Eazy-E” Wright have been opened, and previously unreleased music from the West Coast rap legend will be released on March 26 to coincide with the seven-year anniversary of his death. An eight-song EP titled Godfather of Gangsta Rap – with music recorded between late 1994 and a little before his death in 1995 – will accompany the DVD “Impact of a Legend” when it hits stores. According to Ruthless Records, the label Eazy founded and which is now run by his widow, Tomica Woods-Wright, the EP features appearances by newcomers Paperboy & Flossmode… Read more »

When Jean-Marie Messier, the deal-hungry chief of media giant Vivendi Universal, snapped up Seagram and its vast array of entertainment assets last year, the cynics came out in force. How would Messier, a former French banker and civil servant with no experience in the cut-throat and idiosyncratic world of Hollywood, succeed where outsiders had always failed before? And how would the Franco-American conglomerate, with no distribution outlets in the United States to speak of, match the profit potential of rivals like AOL Time Warner Inc., Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc. In recent days, Messier has made an ambitious attempt… Read more »

The head of Bertelsmann’s e-commerce arm became the latest victim of the German media giant’s restructuring on Wednesday when the group announced a major shake-up of its music distribution interests. Bertelsmann said Andreas Schmidt was leaving the company as the German-based group unveiled plans to fold its e-commerce arm into BeMusic, a new unit that will house its record club, music retailer and other music distribution businesses. Guetersloh, Germany-based Bertelsmann is sprucing up its sprawling media empire ahead of an expected stock market flotation in the next two to three years, and has been reviewing its business for possible cost-saving… Read more »

Alicia Keys, the 20-year-old hip-hop star who made a big splash this year with her debut album, scored five American Music Award nominations on Tuesday, easily outdistancing her nearest rivals. Ten acts, including late R&B singer Aaliyah, country star Tim McGraw and boy band ‘N Sync, picked up two nominations each, organizers said. The awards, now in their 29th year, will be handed out on Wednesday, Jan. 9, during a ceremony at the Shrine Auditorium in downtown Los Angeles. ABC will broadcast the event that night. Winners are determined by a national survey of about 20,000 Americans, who choose from… Read more »

Online music firm FullAudio Corp. said on Monday it clinched a licensing deal with Universal Music Group and a distribution pact with top radio broadcaster Clear Channel Communications Inc. as dealmaking picked up in the Web music sector. The agreements came as federal regulators scrutinized several ventures involving big music companies. FullAudio’s deal with Vivendi Universal’s Universal Music, the world’s largest record company, comes a week after AOL Time Warner Inc.’s Warner Music signed a pact with Echo Networks in its first outside licensing deal with a subscription provider. The two-year deal with Universal covers several hundred titles, including music… Read more »