Search Results for: la dispute

U.S. entertainment giant Walt Disney Co said Tuesday it was not liable in a dispute with South African lawyers over the copyright to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight” – one of Africa’s most famous tunes. Lawyers for the family of the song’s original composer, Zulu migrant worker Solomon Linda, are suing Walt Disney in South Africa for infringement of copyright to the song, which has earned an estimated $15 million since it was written in 1939. The song, originally called “Mbube,” has been recorded by at least 150 artists around the world and features in Disney’s “Lion King” on film and… Read more »

With the music industry looking to cut costs amid lower profit margins, record companies see fewer incentives to investing in artist-run label projects. Twelve years ago, Madonna decided to apply the business instincts that made her a superstar toward finding and developing new acts for her own music label. Maverick Records flourished early on. It generated hits by the likes of Alanis Morissette and Prodigy, validating the decision by Warner Music to form a partnership with its biggest star. But Maverick’s good fortunes started to turn during the industrywide sales slump that began in 2000. The label-parent relationship soured, landing… Read more »

Two musicians who claim they’ve been cheated by rocker Ozzy Osbourne got no sympathy Monday from the Supreme Court. Justices refused to consider the appeal of bassist Robert Daisley and drummer Lee Kerslake, who sued in 1998 seeking royalties for their work on Osbourne albums “Blizzard of Ozz” and “Diary of a Madman.” Los Angeles attorney Nate Kraut said his musician clients have been denied credit for writing songs that are now used in television commercials and during NFL games. “Their music is literally everywhere,” he told justices in a filing. A California judge had dismissed the lawsuit that named… Read more »

A legal battle between The Beatles’ record label Apple Corps and Apple Computer, which is to be heard in the High Court in London, is the latest move in a trademark dispute spanning 24 years. Their claims to the “Apple” name and logo will be heard in an English court, rather than in the US as requested by the computer firm. The latest clash came after Apple Corps claimed Apple Computer’s iTunes music store – which enables users to download songs to a computer or portable player such as the iPod – breaches an agreement between the two firms. But… Read more »

A dispute over royalty rights on copy-protected CDs and other types of music discs is helping to stall the release of some new music technology, and could result in record labels owing tens of millions of dollars in back payments to music publishers. At issue are “double session” CDs that include two versions of each song on a disc, formatted for playback on different kinds of devices. The most widely distributed type are copy-protected discs that prevent CD tracks from being copied to a hard drive, but that also include a digital version of the songs, often in Microsoft’s Windows… Read more »

The Jagermeister Fall Music Tour is coming, and heavy metal icons, Slayer, will lead the assault! Produced and promoted by Clear Channel Entertainment, the tour will let loose on October 8th in Minneapolis, MN and finish up in Los Angeles on November 29th. Slayer’s recent release of their live DVD, War at the Warfield (American Recordings/UME), debuted at #3 on the Billboard charts in its first week. Their highly anticipated box set, Soundtrack to the Apocalypse (American Recordings/UME), due out on November 18, 2003, commemorates Slayer’s 20th anniversary as the undisputed thrash/punk/metal kings and will include classic Slayer tracks taken… Read more »

The embattled music industry disclosed plans Wednesday for an unprecedented escalation in its fight against Internet piracy, threatening to sue hundreds of individual computer users who illegally share music files online. The Recording Industry Association of America, citing significant sales declines, said it will begin Thursday to search Internet file-sharing networks to identify music fans who offer “substantial” collections of MP3 song files for downloading. It expects to file at least several hundred lawsuits seeking financial damages within eight to 10 weeks. Executives for the RIAA, the Washington-based lobbying group that represents major labels, would not say how many songs… Read more »

The city and music industry have offered more than $60,000 in rewards for information on the slaying of rap legend Jam Master Jay. But nearly six months after his death, the identity of his killer and the motive behind the shooting remain a mystery. New York Police Department sources close to the case concede the investigation has been hampered by dead-end leads and uncooperative witnesses. “No one in that industry wants to be a rat,” said one of the sources, who spoke on condition of anonymity. “We’re not at a standstill,” countered police Lt. Alfred Murphy. “We’re still hopeful.” Some… Read more »

The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) on Friday opposed Verizon Communications request for a stay on a judge’s recent order requiring Verizon to turn over the name of a customer suspected of downloading songs on the Web. Last week, Verizon filed a motion for a stay on the order until the company’s appeal of the decision could be heard. Verizon was not available to comment late Friday. U.S. District Judge John Bates in late January said Verizon must cooperate with recording industry efforts to track down online song swappers, rejecting the telecommunications giant’s assertion that such a move would… Read more »

Rap mogul Sean “P. Diddy” Combs, one of contemporary music’s most successful entrepreneurs, has signed a distribution deal with Vivendi Universal’s Universal Records rather than sell the Bad Boy label he says is worth $100 million, the partners said on Thursday. The three-year deal leaves Universal paying marketing and promotion costs and giving Combs an undisclosed upfront fee, which analysts saw as a way for the producer of such hit acts as Faith Evans and the late Notorious B.I.G. to get the backing of the biggest record maker without selling his own company in a down market. Terms of the… Read more »