Search Results for: against the current

The 21st Century Doors have lit a fire under the estate of the late Jim Morrison. Seeing red are George and Clara Morrison, the octogenarian parents of the group’s legendary frontman, who filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against surviving members Ray Manzarek and Robbie Krieger on Wednesday. They claim the rockers swiped their son’s poetry and image and used them in a revamped version of the Doors currently touring the U.S., featuring the Cult’s former frontman, Ian Astbury, as a fill-in for Morrison. The complaint, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, also names Astbury as a defendant. According to court… Read more »

A federal court judge has surprised the entertainment industry by denying a request for a summary judgment that would shut down Grokster and Streamcast Networks. The precedent-setting ruling Friday by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson is a major blow against a pillar of the film and music business’ strategy against online piracy, which is to hold the underlying technology companies responsible. “It is undisputed that there are substantial noninfringing uses” for Grokster and Streamcast’s Morpheus, Wilson wrote in his decision. He cited Sony Corporation of America vs. Universal City Studios, the 1984 milestone usually referred to as the Betamax… Read more »

Two companies behind services for sharing music and movies over the Internet are not to blame for any illegal copying conducted by the services’ users, a federal judge ruled Friday. The 34-page ruling by U.S. District Court Judge Stephen Wilson was a major blow to recording companies and movie studios, which have been aggressively filing lawsuits and pushing new laws to stem the illegal copying and distribution of their copyright works. The decision, if it survives appeal, essentially absolves Grokster Ltd. and StreamCast Networks Inc. of liability. Grokster distributes file-sharing software by that name, and StreamCast distributes Morpheus. “It’s a… Read more »

Can you take Scott Stapp “Higher”? No, say some disgruntled Creed fans, so they’re taking him to court. On Monday, a quartet of Creed faithful filed suit against the rock group, demanding their money back from a concert at the Allstate Arena in Rosemont, outside Chicago on December 29. The concertgoers claim the performance was marked by a whole lot of booze and drugs but little rock ‘n’ roll. According to court documents, frontman Stapp “was so intoxicated and/or medicated that he was unable to sing the lyrics of a single Creed song.” The four plaintiffs, Philip and Linda Berenz… Read more »

When Radiohead guitarist Jonny Greenwood found out last weekend that his band’s upcoming record, Hail to the Thief, had leaked online, he wasn’t terribly upset. “Shame it’s not a package with the artwork and all,” he wrote at the time. He’s since reconsidered his position. “We’re kind of pissed about it, to be honest,” he posted Thursday (April 3) on the Radiohead fan site At Ease. Mostly, Greenwood and his bandmates are upset that the version of Hail to the Thief currently on the Net is composed of works in progress that were stolen in February while the band was… Read more »

Britney Spears and her family were on-hand for the Rally Against Cancer at Summit Hospital in her home state of Louisiana on Sunday (March 2). The hospital and the singer’s Britney Spears Foundation co-hosted the cancer screening and awareness fair in Baton Rouge. “This is something my heart has to do,” Spears told the hundreds of people gathered for the event, which was designed to promote the need for preventative measures such as early cancer-detection screenings. The singer spent much of her time there signing autographs for her fans. Spears is currently in the process of recording her fourth studio… Read more »

The Grammy Awards return to New York for the first time in five years on Sunday, with songs influenced by the Sept. 11 hijacked plane attacks on the city in the running for the music industry’s top annual prizes. Veteran rocker Bruce Springsteen’s “The Rising” and country singer Alan Jackson’s emotional “Where Were You (When the World Stopped Turning)” are both nominated for Song of the Year. Young singer and pianist Norah Jones with her mellow mix of jazz, blues and country song and album “Come Away With Me,” is among eight stars most frequently mentioned by music critics as… Read more »

In an aggressive move to boost subscriptions, online music firm Listen.com on Thursday cut what it charges users to burn songs from its Rhapsody service from 99 cents to a loss-making 49 cents. The drastic discount underscores the lengths to which legitimate online music companies will go to jump-start the fledgling marketplace, which is competing against still popular unauthorized services like Kazaa which attract millions with offers of virtually limitless content for free. “We look at this as a limited-time promotion and an effort to get people in the door,” said Matt Graves, a spokesman for independently-owned Listen.com. “We may… Read more »

Incubus filed suit against Sony Music on Thursday seeking to be released from their recording contract with Sony subsidiary Epic Records. The suit – filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in Santa Monica on behalf of singer Brandon Boyd, guitarist Mike Einziger, drummer Jose Pasillas and bassist Alex Katunich – asks a judge to allow them to set aside their original deal, which they claim they have satisfied. “This isn’t Courtney Love or some other artists where we’re walking away from a deal,” said the band’s manager, Steve Rennie, referring to a suit settled last year in which Love sought… Read more »

A U.S. appeals court on Friday upheld as constitutional a law that barred a pirate broadcaster from ever obtaining a license for a low-power FM radio station or from being involved with a station. The court, by a 7-1 vote, ruled the law and the government regulations implementing it do not violate free-speech rights under the First Amendment. The full court reversed a ruling last year by a three-judge panel of the appeals court that struck down the law. Acting on a mandate from Congress, the Federal Communications Commission adopted rules in 2001 that banned anyone who had been a… Read more »