Search Results for: against me

Nearly a year after Microsoft Corp. agreed to end its anticompetitive conduct, the government is raising concerns the world’s largest software maker is trying to use its dominant Windows operating system to influence where customers buy their music online. If the dispute isn’t resolved by week’s end, it could become the first test of Microsoft’s landmark antitrust settlement that was approved by a federal court in October 2002. Lawyers for the Justice Department and 19 state attorneys general have formally complained to a federal judge about a design feature of Windows that compels consumers who buy music online to use… Read more »

The legal scuffle between the Beatles’ record label Apple Corps Ltd. and Apple Computers Inc over the use of the name is heating up again. After years of legal wrangling, Apple Corps, which is owned by Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr, and the widows of John Lennon and George Harrison, agreed in 1981 to allow the computer company to use the Apple name if they would limit their use of it to just computers. However, now that Apple Computers has launched their iTunes digital music service, Apple Corps is claiming the California computer maker is in violation of that agreement, and… Read more »

Good Charlotte, Pennywise and Sum 41 have always been known more for their practical jokes than their practical advice. That may soon change. Next year these bands, Green Day, NOFX, Alkaline Trio and others will unite to raise political awareness and encourage pop-punk fans to vote in the next presidential election – against George Bush. The groups will each contribute a track to the compilation Rock Against Bush and take part in at least one show on a tour organized and funded by NOFX singer/bassist Fat Mike, who also owns the label Fat Wreck Chords. “About a year ago I… Read more »

Making good on its promise to sue online pirates, the recording industry filed a round of lawsuits against computer users in federal courthouses Monday. More than 260 civil lawsuits were levied against people targeted by the cutthroat campaign, which the Recording Industry Association of America hopes will stamp out the rampant piracy believed to be causing a slump in record sales. The users’ identities were given to the RIAA by their Internet service providers, who were compelled to do so by the more than 1,500 subpoenas that have been filed since July. The first of what may amount to thousands… Read more »

A federal court Wednesday blocked controversial new Federal Communications Commission media ownership rules pending a full judicial review in a major blow to large media companies. In a loss for the Republican-led FCC, the three-judge panel of the Third U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Philadelphia granted a stay order that prevented the new rules from taking effect as scheduled on Thursday. Critics argued that the FCC rules would concentrate too much power in the hands of media moguls. The new rules were backed by media giants including Viacom Inc.’s CBS, General Electric Co.’s NBC and News Corp. Ltd’s Fox… Read more »

U.S. television network NBC won Vivendi Universal’s marathon show-business auction on Tuesday with a proposed merger to create a new entertainment industry giant worth more than $40 billion. NBC, a unit of General Electric Co., clinched exclusive negotiating rights to finalize a deal that would give it a major film studio, more cable channels and theme parks to vault the No. 1 U.S. broadcast network closer to the ranks of such global titans as Walt Disney Co. and Viacom Inc. If the deal is completed, the new company, to be called NBC-Universal, would include Vivendi’s Universal Pictures, the Hollywood studio… Read more »

In a landmark opinion, the United States Copyright Office has affirmed the right of musicians to perform original compositions copyrighted in their own names, and traditional music in the public domain, anywhere they want to, whether or not the venue has a license from ASCAP, BMI or SESAC. The opinion comes in response to an inquiry from Congressman John M. McHugh (R, NY) on behalf of Richard Hayes Phillips, a performing musician. Mr. Phillips had lost a job as the only musician at Schemmy’s Restaurant in Rhinebeck, New York, after the owners received a series of threatening letters from BMI,… Read more »

Subtlety is not a trademark for the All-American Rejects, but neither is specificity. Most of the band’s songs address bad relationships and broken hearts, but details of the scarring experiences are often missing. On the group’s next single, vocalist Tyson Ritter sings, “Life is turned, the day I knew you would leave/ I can barely breathe/ Can you hear me scream?” That’s about as close as the Rejects get to confessional revelation. So what exactly is the tune about? “It’s about 96-beats-per-minute and it’s in the key of C major,” quipped bassist Nick Wheeler in a most unhelpful manner. “It’s… Read more »

Boston College and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, citing concerns about student privacy, moved yesterday to quash subpoenas issued by the recording industry to discover the identities of students the industry says are illegally distributing copyrighted music. The moves represent one of the first major obstacles for the recording industry in its campaign against ordinary computer users who share copyrighted music. Jonathan Lamy, a spokesman for the Recording Industry Association of America, said he was disappointed and vowed legal action to obtain the information. “These universities have chosen to litigate this in an attempt to deny copyright holders the right… Read more »

Earlier this week, reports of Metallica’s latest lawsuit surfaced, this one against a Canadian band for trademark infringement over the heavy metal band’s branded E, F chord progression. Lars Ulrich & Co., who have found themselves in court battling everything from lipstick and perfume to tires and Napster, were widely criticized for this latest legal nitpicking. “How pathetic,” chimed in one critic on the Encyclopedia Metallica Website, echoing a sentiment similar to those found on several message boards. Problem is, the lawsuit is a fake, concocted by an Internet prankster who happens to be the lead singer-songwriter of the Canadian… Read more »