Search Results for: against the current

It may be almost 38 years since they officially split but the ability of all things Beatles to shake the world continues unabated. If proof were needed, reports yesterday that Sir Paul McCartney had given the go-ahead for the Fab Four’s back catalogue to be made available on iTunes and other digital download services “within months” made front-page news and set fans’ internet chat rooms buzzing. Official “no comments” that anything was imminent from both Apple Corps, owners of the Beatles’ legacy, and Apple, the creator of iTunes, which dismissed suggestions as “rumour and speculation,” could do little to dampen… Read more »

A teenager who suffered a breakdown on the German version of “American Idol” could end up costing its broadcaster 100,000 euros ($147,000). Germany’s Cultural Council, an official youth protection watchdog, has recommended private German broadcaster RTL be fined for broadcasting the incident, and other humiliating moments on its top-rated “Deutschland Sucht Den Superstar” or “DSDS.” The Cultural Council accused RTL of “malicious disregard” for humanity on the show, arguing that the manner in which contestants are humiliated on the show could have detrimental effects on young viewers. At issue are the early episodes of the current “DSDS” season, which focused… Read more »

Troubled British singer Amy Winehouse is the perfect poster girl for the current state of the music industry. Music isn’t her problem. Everything else is. That’s exactly the same situation that the music industry – faced with lagging sales, a lack of star power and defection from its biggest moneymakers – finds itself in these days. And when the music industry has problems, the Grammys – celebrating their 50th anniversary Sunday – do as well. Winehouse and her stunning R&B revivalist debut “Back to Black” (Universal Republic) are up for six awards; she’s the only artist nominated in all four… Read more »

Music publishers, the record labels and digital music distribution outlets began a three-way legal wrestling match Monday over just how much songwriters and the publishing houses should get paid for digitally delivered music.The case before a panel of copyright judges is different from the usual squabbles over money that pit the major record labels against new-media companies because it also features a family fight between the music publishers and songwriters and the rest of the music industry.At issue is the so-called “mechanical royalty” — payments made for copies of sound recordings, including those made by digital means, to songwriters and… Read more »

The daughter of an acclaimed electronic music producer is safe, and her mother remains jailed after authorities in California arrested the woman earlier this week on a child abduction warrant obtained in Maryland, even though the charges have been dismissed.Ashley Duffy is no longer wanted by police, but her arrest Tuesday and subsequent jailing, police and prosecutors in Montgomery County, Md., confirmed to ABC News, was made based on a felony warrant that officials now say should never have been issued. The 3-year-old girl, Kaia, may be safe, but a California court will have to resolve the ongoing custody dispute… Read more »

The Department of Justice on Thursday slammed intellectual property legislation that would re-organize its IP enforcement structure, calling it unnecessary and counterproductive to the work it has already accomplished. “We have a current structure … that works quite effectively,” Sigal Mandelker, deputy assistant attorney general, told the House Judiciary subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property. Judiciary Chairman John Conyers last week introduced H.R. 4279, which would further crack down on intellectual property violations, and create several new government positions with the power to enforce the new law. It is intended to preserve American economic prosperity, according to sponsors.… Read more »

Michael Jackson is on deadline. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday issued a court order giving the reclusive entertainer 25 days to turn over financial information to a law firm that previously won a $256,000 judgment against him in July. Should Jackson balk at turning over the records requested by the firm of Ayscough & Marar, he instead has the option of making good on his unpaid legal fees. Jackson engaged the firm during his 2005 child-molestation trial to perform such tasks as obtaining court orders to block information from being publicly released and delaying discovery in several… Read more »

Michael Jackson is on deadline. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Wednesday issued a court order giving the reclusive entertainer 25 days to turn over financial information to a law firm that previously won a $256,000 judgment against him in July. Should Jackson balk at turning over the records requested by the firm of Ayscough & Marar, he instead has the option of making good on his unpaid legal fees. Jackson engaged the firm during his 2005 child-molestation trial to perform such tasks as obtaining court orders to block information from being publicly released and delaying discovery in several… Read more »

The scope of a yearlong download promotion planned between Pepsi and Amazon, Billboard has learned, is among several developments forcing further consideration by Warner Music Group (WMG) and Sony BMG Music Entertainment to follow EMI and Universal Music Group’s lead in distributing music in the MP3 format. News of the Pepsi promotion, which is expected to be announced Feb. 3 during the Super Bowl, coincides with an ultimatum from Wal-Mart asking major labels to supply walmart.com with their music in MP3, sources say. Labels, meanwhile, say they have been watching the success of an MP3 test UMG began in August;… Read more »

Former Smiths frontman Morrissey is suing music magazine NME for defamation after it printed an article in which he discussed his views on immigration in Britain. The magazine criticized the 48-year-old singer for allegedly saying Britain had lost its identity as a result of higher levels of immigration than other European countries. “We can confirm we have received two writs from Morrissey’s legal representatives pertaining to NME and its editor Conor McNicholas,” a spokesman for NME said on Friday. “NME takes this matter — and the issues it highlights — extremely seriously and we are currently in discussion with our… Read more »