Search Results for: against me

On its first day back from summer recess, the U.S. Supreme Court came out swinging Monday for the entertainment and media business, declining to review two libel cases and a suit brought by a Maryland quiltmaker alleging that producer Steven Spielberg bilked her for designs used in the 1995 picture “How to Make an American Quilt.” Furthermore, in a case tracked by the music business, the robes said rocker Nicholas Kassbaum had the right to mention that he used to be with the hit band Steppenwolf. Other members of the band alleged that Kassbaum – aka Nick St. Nicholas –… Read more »

American songwriters and music publishers have reached preliminary agreement with the on-line file sharing service Napster to settle the class-action lawsuit currently pending in federal court in California. The agreement includes terms under which the songwriters and music publishers will license their music to Napster’s new membership-based service. The announcement of the proposed settlement was made jointly by Edward P. Murphy, president and CEO of the National Music Publishers’ Association, Inc., Gary L. Churgin, president and CEO of The Harry Fox Agency, Inc., George David Weiss, president of The Songwriters’ Guild of America, Inc., and Napster president and CEO Konrad… Read more »

Backstreet Boy Kevin Richardson has released a statement clarifying and apologizing for comments he made on MuchMusic last week. While the group visited the network’s Toronto studio in the wake of the terrorist attacks against the United States, Richardson said, “I just think [the United States] are a little bit of an arrogant nation, and maybe this is a little bit of a humbling experience. It raises questions in my mind, what has our government done to provoke this action, that we don’t know about?” This week, after by beginning with thanks to fans for the “love and support you’ve… Read more »

A new lawsuit filed against MP3.com seeks to hold the San Diego music-locker service liable not only for songs it improperly copied and distributed, but also for every bootleg track exchanged through Napster and other underground file-swapping services. The suit, filed on behalf of 52 independent songwriters and music publishers, accuses MP3.com of “viral” infringement. It contends that MP3.com’s technology set the stage for widespread music piracy, enabling bootlegged songs to pass from computer to computer faster than you can say “Oops, I Did It Again.” The argument goes like this: MP3.com made compressed copies of about 900,000 songs, which… Read more »

Former Metallica bassist Jason Newsted made his first live appearance with his new band, EchoBrain, on Sunday, playing an hour-long set of heavy yet melodic rock to close out Nadine’s Wild Weekend, a showcase of Bay Area bands. Newsted left Metallica in January, partly due to a strict policy barring side projects, and he had an air of rebirth about him at the posh Bimbo’s 365 Club. “Playing other types of music with other people always enabled me to play better for Metallica,” Newsted said before the show. “It really kept me fresh to hit that loud stuff, my forte.… Read more »

It’s unfortunate when a single event or vibe during a show taints your experience enjoying the acts that are performing the music you respect and love. Last night’s (8/9) Mayan show in Los Angeles had all the makings of an incredible happening, especially for those in the SoCal dance community, and for many it probably was. Orange County’s Uberzone was opening for hometown boys The Crystal Method, whose latest album, Tweekend (Interscope), came out with impressive sales at Virgin Megastores the week before. New LA resident Detroit’s Static Revenger was spinning in between sets. Uberzone’s set proved to be a… Read more »

A concert promoter in Denver has filed suit against Clear Channel Communications, alleging that the broadcasting giant has unfairly used its dominance in radio broadcasting to monopolize the live-music market. The Associated Press reports that an antitrust suit has been filed in federal court against the nation’s largest broadcaster, Clear Channel Communications. The lawsuit is the result of Clear Channel’s $4 billion acquisition of SFX, a leading concert promotions company, which has been renamed Clear Channel Entertainment. The lawsuit, filed earlier this week in Denver by and independent music promotion company called Nobody in Particular Presents (NPP), charges that Clear… Read more »

A Los Angeles superior court yesterday dismissed breach of contract, unfair competition, and all other claims brought against three members of the hugely successful pop music group “Dream” and their parents. Members of Kirkpatrick & Lockhart LLP’s entertain- ment practice in Los Angeles managed the group’s defense in the civil suit originally filed in January of this year, wherein the defendants’ original talent agency, Judith Fontaine dba Fontaine & Daughters Productions, alleged damages in connection with the group’s termination of its relationship with her. K&L partner and lead attorney in the matter, Paul W. Sweeney, Jr. (who was assisted by… Read more »

You might think that after parting ways with a major label, Jimmy Eat World would take the opportunity to further indulge in the thoughtful experimentation that marked 1999’s Clarity, their second and final release on Capitol. After all, no label means no more A&R guys frowning at songs like Clarity’s 16-minute-plus “Goodbye Sky Harbor,” with its drum-loop buildup and crescendo of overlapping, programmed vocals. But left to their own devices, Mesa, Arizona’s favorite sons made their most straight-up pop record to date – Bleed American, which hit stores Tuesday. “Things still got pretty gnarly in the studio as far as… Read more »

Try as they might to display a more mature side as songwriters and lyricists, the members of Green Day – a third, fourth or maybe even fifth-generation punk band – are still working the same schtick that powered them to rock supremacy in the mid-1990s. It’s snotty and obnoxious, a blur of three- and four-chord rockers strung together in a manner that puts exclamation points after every barre chord and chorus. But when it’s working, Green Day is far and away the head of the class. Green Day delivered an involving, career-spanning show that included five tunes from the new… Read more »