Tag: Legal Troubles (31-40 of 163)

Jul 16 2012 11:36 AM ET

Madonna facing lawsuit in France over swastika imagery

Madonna’s “Girl Gone Wild” ways are finally catching up with her.

As we reported earlier, the rampant nipple-flashing pop legend previewed a video in Tel Aviv that featured images of Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s right-wright Front National Party, with a swastika imposed over her head. As one would imagine, Le Pen did not take kindly to it, threatening Madge by saying, “If she does that in France, we’ll be waiting for her.”

Well, guess what: Madonna did that in France, and Le Pen was waiting for her – with a lawsuit. At a show in Paris’ Stade de France, the singer indeed let the video rip in front of 70,000 concert-goers, which you can see in the video below:

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Jun 29 2012 09:33 AM ET

Police suspected of selling bruised Rihanna photo won't face charges

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Image Credit: Frazer Harrison/Getty Images

Two Los Angeles police officers won’t face criminal charges alleging they leaked a photo of pop star Rihanna’s bruised and beaten face after she was assaulted by singer Chris Brown, the Los Angeles County district attorney’s office said. An internal report by prosecutors says that after a three-year investigation, they didn’t have enough evidence to show celebrity news website TMZ paid the accused officers for the photo, and that became an obstacle in charging them.

The Associated Press report obtained a copy of the March 28 report on Thursday after its contents were first reported by the Los Angeles Times.

Officers Blanca Lopez and Rebecca Reyes may still get fired. They are slated to appear before disciplinary panels in August. READ FULL STORY »

Jun 25 2012 11:05 AM ET

Black Keys, Danger Mouse suing Pizza Hut, Home Depot for using song in commercials

Black-Keys

Image Credit: John Peets

The Black Keys may have named their most recent album after an old Chevrolet model, but that doesn’t mean they’re open to pimp just any company.

The Ohio garage duo of Dan Auerbach and Patrick Carney have filed separate copyright infringement lawsuits against Home Depot and Pizza Hut for wrongly using their music in commercials, the AP reports.

Home Depot, the suit claims, used portions of the band’s hit “Lonely Boy” in a power-tools ad without the artist’s permission, while Pizza Hut allegedly pulled a similar stunt with “Gold on the Ceiling.” According to the AP, Brian Burton (a.k.a. Black Keys producer Danger Mouse) is also suing the companies.

“The experts confirmed that this was copyright infringement,” said Black Keys spokeswoman Mary Moyer in a statement. On top of requesting cease-and-desist orders, the band (which has previously allowed their work to be used in ads for Cadillac and Suburu) is also seeking more than $75,000 in damages from each party.

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Jun 8 2012 08:22 AM ET

Grammys add changes to jazz, Latin, R&B fields

A year after the Grammy Awards cut 31 categories, sparking protests and a lawsuit by Latin jazz musicians, the music organization has made more changes by adding three awards, including the reinstatement of best Latin jazz album.

The Recording Academy announced Friday in a statement to The Associated Press that the upcoming Grammys will feature 81 categories. It reduced the number from 109 to 78 last year.

New entries include awards for best urban contemporary album — to honor R&B albums that may include elements of pop and rock — and best classical compendium to highlight albums “involving a mixture of classical subgenres.” READ FULL STORY »

May 8 2012 02:32 PM ET

Beastie Boys sued over allegedly illegal 'Paul's Boutique' and 'Licensed to Ill' samples

beastie-boys

Image Credit: Phil Andelman

It’s been a bad week in the Beastie Boys’ corner of the universe.

A day before founding member Adam Yauch’s death, the band was hit with a lawsuit over the use of samples on two of their best-regarded albums, Paul’s Boutique and Licensed to Ill.

The suit, filed by the label Tuf America, alleges that the two albums illegally sample the band Trouble Funk’s 1982 songs “Drop the Bomb” and “Say What.” Both the Beasties and Capitol Records were named in the suit, some of which is available on All Hip-Hop for your viewing displeasure.

So what are the offending Beastie songs? The suit name checks Licensed to Ill‘s “Hold It Now Hit It” and “The New Style” and Paul’s Boutique‘s “Car Thief” for cribbing from “Drop the Bomb,” as well as that album’s “Shadrach” for stealing elements from “Say What.”

Tuf America wants the matter to go to trial, but in the meantime, let’s give the songs in question a listen to see (slash hear) what all the hubbub’s about:

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May 3 2012 12:55 PM ET

Kurt Cobain's image rights now owned by daughter Frances Bean, not Courtney Love

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Image Credit: SGranitz/Getty Images

Can you imagine an alternate reality wherein Kurt doesn’t commit suicide and the Cobain clan lives on happily ever after?

The ongoing saga of the family Cobain just got another wrinkle when The Fix revealed that 19-year old Frances Bean Cobain—the only child of Kurt and Courtney—has actually been in control of her father’s name, likeness, and appearance rights since 2010.

Documents show that in 2009, following her losing custody battle for Frances in 2009, Courtney agreed to step down as the administrator of End of Music LLC in exchange for $2.75 million, paid out to through Frances’ trust fund. The payout is a loan and until Courtney pays it back, she has no say in the business use of her late husband’s name or likeness.

As a part of the custody battle from a few years ago, Frances Bean also owns a generous portion of her father’s artifacts, including paintings, musical equipment, and personal items.

Though an executive named Larry Mestel has administrative rights to the catalog, and can approve usages like the inclusion of “Smells Like Teen Spirit” in the recent Muppets movie, this ultimately means that Frances is in control of her father’s posthumous legacy. So if Nirvana songs show up in advertisements or if her dad’s hologram goes on tour, it’ll be on her.

Read more on EW.com:
Vintage footage of unreleased Kurt Cobain and Courtney Love duet surfaces: Watch it here
Courtney Love apologizes to Frances Bean Cobain on Twitter
In honor of Kurt Cobain’s 45th birthday, let’s listen to his other band

Apr 11 2012 12:12 PM ET

One Direction's label sued by another, probably less cute band named One Direction

one-direction_320.jpg

Image Credit: Chris Lopez

Watch out, Michelle Obama — don’t let the wrong One Direction into the White House!

The First Lady’s favorite X Factor-spawned British boy band is seeing their label, the Simon Cowell-run Syco Entertainment, and Sony Music get sued for $1 million by an American band also called One Direction.

The litigious American group — who are unsigned but modestly successful on iTunes (their album The Light has been on sale since February 2011) — contend that the more popular 1D’s stateside activities are causing consumer confusion. The Today show, for example, recently played the domestic Direction’s song “2012″ while welcoming the foreign Direction onto the program.

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Mar 23 2012 03:53 PM ET

Sugarland ordered to testify in Indiana State Fair trial next month

Sugarland

Image Credit: Stewart Volland

As we reported back in November, the country duo Sugarland is being sued by 44 victims of last fall’s fatal Indiana State Fair stage collapse.

Now Jennifer Nettles and Kristian Bush have been ordered by the court to provide depositions in the trial next month, the Associated Press reports.

The band’s attorneys initially hoped to delay the depositions until May, citing preparations for an upcoming tour, but Marion Superior Court Judge Theodore Sosin is ordering Nettles and Bush to testify between the dates of April 1 and April 15. (Sugarland is nominated for Vocal Duo of the Year at the upcoming ACM Awards, scheduled for April 1 in Las Vegas.)

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Mar 22 2012 05:46 PM ET

Odd Future show shut down by cops in Boston (again)

OFWGKTA

Image Credit: Roger Kisby/Getty Images

Sucks to be an Odd Future fan in Boston.

Nearly a year after the Los Angeles rap collective had their Newbury Comics show shut down by police, the Tyler, the Creator-led group has once again seen their show cut short by Boston’s finest.

According to a fan-made video, Odd Future were performing last night at the city’s House of Blues when the lights were turned on by the venue, apparently at the instruction of cops.

“Just so you guys don’t think we’re d—s, I was going to finish the song, because you guys paid money,” Tyler tells the booing crowd. “But the promoter cut us off.” Word has it, one of OFWGKTA’s crew members was arrested outside the venue.

“We wanted to finish,” he continues, “but the owner of the club made us turn it off and the police are right there.” He had more to say, but his mic was quickly cut off. See it go down in the video below:

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Mar 22 2012 05:28 PM ET

El DeBarge arrested on cocaine charges and later released

EL-DEBARGE

Image Credit: Jason Merritt/Getty Images

The week just took a pleasant turn, as the 50-year-old singer and onetime ’80s star will not be charged following an arrest for drug possession on Tuesday.

DeBarge was picked up on Tuesday for possession with intent to sell after police noticed him speaking to a second person on the street. After a search, the other man insisted that he was trying to buy rock cocaine from DeBarge, and the cops found the drugs tossed away nearby.

But the Los Angeles County District Attorney determined that there wasn’t enough evidence to proceed with formal charges, so the incident has been dropped.

DeBarge may not be entirely out of the woods. He once spent 13 months in jail on drug-related crimes, and was in rehab as recently as last year — a struggle he has been open about in the press.

In 2010, DeBarge put out a well-received comeback album called Second Chance that earned him a Grammy nomination.

Read more on EW.com:
El DeBarge checks in to rehab
Review: El DeBarge, Second Chance

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