In a complaint filed this morning in Los Angeles Superior Court, David Cassidy is seeking material damages in excess of $1 million, the amount to be determined at trial, as well as exemplary and punitive damages, against Bell Records, Arista Records and Bertelsmann Music Group. Cassidy claims that Arista/BMG, subsequent to merging and acquiring Bell Records, materially breached Cassidy’s recording agreement. In addition, Cassidy is claiming that Arista/BMG has breached their fiduciary duty to him as a recording artist and have improperly misappropriated his name and likeness in exploiting the albums. He claims that Bell’s number of “Best Of…” releases… Read more »
Veteran songwriters and singers Randy Newman, Tom Waits and members of the rock band Heart filed a $40 million copyright infringement suit against online music company MP3.com Inc., the artists’ lawyer said on Tuesday. “This is a case of artists banding together to protect their most valuable assets – their songs,” said attorney Bruce Van Dalsem, an attorney for Gradstein, Luskin & Van Dalsem, who is representing the artists in the case. The suit alleges MP3.com illegally copied tens of thousands of the plaintiffs’ songs by digitally converting music on compact discs into MP3 files for its My.MP3 service, which… Read more »
In a move to head off any possible legal action taken against it by the RIAA, Albany, N.Y. based Aimster has filed suit in U.S. District Court against the trade group it says wants to do to it what its done to Napster. Aimster, a technology that users can attach to AOL’s instant messenger, allows users to share music files only with the individuals on that person’s “buddy list,” and has attracted about 4.2 million users. Aimster says that it is doing nothing wrong, and wants the court to validate that opinion in an effort to prevent the RIAA from… Read more »
A federal appeals court in Manhattan heard oral arguments yesterday in a case that questions the constitutionality of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. The DMCA was passed by Congress in 1998 when a number of entertainment companies and trade organizations pressured lawmakers to make unauthorized electronic distribution of digital copyrighted materials illegal. The DMCA legislation has given rise to a move by the RIAA to require radio stations streaming on the Internet to pay both performance and publishing royalty fees. If it is upheld in the online world, it’s also possible that the practice will be extended to on-air broadcasts,… Read more »
A New York jury Friday ordered online music company MP3.com Inc. to pay about $300,000 in damages to an independent record label for copyright infringement, as both sides claimed victory in the case and MP3.com said it would appeal. In a lawsuit filed about a year ago, privately owned TVT Records claimed that San Diego-based MP3’s Instant Listening service violated TVT copyrights by making TVT songs available to Web surfers for listening online. A federal judge said that on previous precedent copyright violations had occurred, and a jury was asked to determine damages in a case that went to trial… Read more »
Don’t focus only on major labels’ interests when considering legislation, they say. Alanis Morissette and Don Henley urged the U.S. Senate to heed the voices of artists – and not just their record labels – during a hearing Tuesday morning on the future of online entertainment. Senators should take artists’ concerns into account if they decide to write any legislation related to the online future of the recording industry, Morissette and Henley said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The reason that I am here is that although these intermediaries claim to represent the creators, and while there certainly… Read more »
Kid Rock has settled out of court for an undisclosed amount with his ex-manager, who sued the musician back in July for $4 million. “We are glad that this case has been settled fairly and that the litigation has been brought to an end,” said Stephen Hutton of Uppercut Management and Rock in a joint statement on Monday (March 12). “There are no hard feelings and we wish each other well.” Hutton sued Rock – real name Robert Ritchie – for not paying up on the contract the two signed in 1996. “Against the backdrop of a dismal track record,… Read more »
Prosecutors in Macomb County have offered to drop one of two felony charges against Eminem, but they still want jail time for the Grammy-nominated rapper. One of Eminem’s lawyers said Tuesday (February 13) that chances are “at least 50-50” that the controversial hip-hop artist may accept the proposed plea bargain when both sides appear in court Wednesday afternoon. But accepting the plea agreement won’t automatically mean Eminem, 28, will land behind bars soon – or at all. Any sentence would be up to Macomb County Circuit Court Visiting Judge Antonio Viviano. Eminem, known to the legal system by his born… Read more »
Matt Skiba has launched a new band called Lektron with members of AFI, Against Me! and Spiritworld, and they are absolutely awesome.
Darrin chats with singer for Against Me, Laura Jane Grace!
