Rick Astley is taking Yung Gravy to court.
Billboard reports that Astley is suing the rapper over his song “Betty (Get Money), which incorporates Astley’s signature song “Never Gonna Give You Up”.
In the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles on Thursday, Astley alleges that Yung Gravy’s song doesn’t sample the track, but instead uses a new recording featuring a singer who impersonates Astley’s voice so well that listeners believed it was Astley singing on the track, not a soundalike.
Read More: Rick Astley Puts A New Spin On ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ Video 35 Years Later
“In an effort to capitalize off of the immense popularity and goodwill of Mr. Astley, defendants … conspired to include a deliberate and nearly indistinguishable imitation of Mr. Astley’s voice throughout the song,” Astley’s suit declares. “The public could not tell the difference. The imitation of Mr. Astley’s...
Billboard reports that Astley is suing the rapper over his song “Betty (Get Money), which incorporates Astley’s signature song “Never Gonna Give You Up”.
In the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles on Thursday, Astley alleges that Yung Gravy’s song doesn’t sample the track, but instead uses a new recording featuring a singer who impersonates Astley’s voice so well that listeners believed it was Astley singing on the track, not a soundalike.
Read More: Rick Astley Puts A New Spin On ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ Video 35 Years Later
“In an effort to capitalize off of the immense popularity and goodwill of Mr. Astley, defendants … conspired to include a deliberate and nearly indistinguishable imitation of Mr. Astley’s voice throughout the song,” Astley’s suit declares. “The public could not tell the difference. The imitation of Mr. Astley’s...
- 1/27/2023
- by Brent Furdyk
- ET Canada
CNN is facing a 17 million lawsuit accusing it of using hundreds of songs in international broadcast segments without acquiring a license or paying the proper fees.
The lawsuit was filed by Freeplay Music, a production music library company with a catalog of over 50,000 songs to be licensed and used in everything from television broadcasts to advertisements to YouTube videos. According to the suit, obtained by Rolling Stone, several CNN outposts around the world — including the Philippines, Indonesia, and Chile — treated Freeplay’s library like “their own personal cookie jar,” allegedly...
The lawsuit was filed by Freeplay Music, a production music library company with a catalog of over 50,000 songs to be licensed and used in everything from television broadcasts to advertisements to YouTube videos. According to the suit, obtained by Rolling Stone, several CNN outposts around the world — including the Philippines, Indonesia, and Chile — treated Freeplay’s library like “their own personal cookie jar,” allegedly...
- 12/1/2022
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Click here to read the full article.
Pandora has been stopped from advancing an antitrust lawsuit against comedians, including the estates of Robin Williams and George Carlin, accusing them of monopolizing the market for the rights to the recordings of their routines.
A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Pandora’s countersuit against the comedians and their licensing group Word Collection, finding the audio giant failed to connect the agency’s “impressive but short list of comedians whose work it licenses” to the company’s inability to assemble the “critical mass needed to offer a viable comedy streaming service, especially when it offers recordings by several thousand other comedians.” While she allowed Pandora another chance to fix its antitrust claims, the judge was skeptical it could sufficiently do so.
“The court doubts whether Pandora can allege the necessary facts at this stage,” writes U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi.
The high-profile...
Pandora has been stopped from advancing an antitrust lawsuit against comedians, including the estates of Robin Williams and George Carlin, accusing them of monopolizing the market for the rights to the recordings of their routines.
A federal judge on Wednesday dismissed Pandora’s countersuit against the comedians and their licensing group Word Collection, finding the audio giant failed to connect the agency’s “impressive but short list of comedians whose work it licenses” to the company’s inability to assemble the “critical mass needed to offer a viable comedy streaming service, especially when it offers recordings by several thousand other comedians.” While she allowed Pandora another chance to fix its antitrust claims, the judge was skeptical it could sufficiently do so.
“The court doubts whether Pandora can allege the necessary facts at this stage,” writes U.S. District Judge Mark Scarsi.
The high-profile...
- 10/27/2022
- by Winston Cho
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
Yellowcard has dropped a $15 million copyright lawsuit against Juice Wrld, which was filed last October before the rapper’s death, and accused him and his producers of knowingly copying the band’s song “Holly Wood Died” on his breakout hit “Lucid Dreams.”
Last Friday, July 24th, Yellowcard’s lawyer, Richard Busch — a noted copyright attorney who represented the Marvin Gaye Estate in the “Blurred Lines” case — signed off on a form to dismiss the complaint, the New York Times reports.
The status of the case had been in limbo since...
Last Friday, July 24th, Yellowcard’s lawyer, Richard Busch — a noted copyright attorney who represented the Marvin Gaye Estate in the “Blurred Lines” case — signed off on a form to dismiss the complaint, the New York Times reports.
The status of the case had been in limbo since...
- 7/27/2020
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Without exception, there’s nobody music companies would like to hear from less than Richard Busch. And he’s rather pleased about that fact.
An attorney specializing in copyright infringement, Busch — head of entertainment at Nashville-based King & Ballow — makes his living accusing people of stealing. Most famously, he accused Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke of thieving elements of Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give It Up for their smash “Blurred Lines”; the duo were forced to pay $5.3 million in damages to Gaye’s family in 2018. Many in the music...
An attorney specializing in copyright infringement, Busch — head of entertainment at Nashville-based King & Ballow — makes his living accusing people of stealing. Most famously, he accused Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke of thieving elements of Marvin Gaye’s Got to Give It Up for their smash “Blurred Lines”; the duo were forced to pay $5.3 million in damages to Gaye’s family in 2018. Many in the music...
- 7/20/2020
- by Tim Ingham
- Rollingstone.com
A Texas judge granted the Houston rapper Megan Thee Stallion a temporary restraining order against her label, 1501 Entertainment, on Monday, according to Billboard. Megan Thee Stallion, whose real name is Megan Pete, recently filed suit against 1501 Entertainment, alleging that the contract she had signed with the label when she was 20 was “not only entirely unconscionable, but ridiculously so,” putting the label in a position to “literally do nothing, while at the same time taking for themselves the vast majority of Pete’s income from all sources.”
Pete signed a new...
Pete signed a new...
- 3/3/2020
- by Elias Leight
- Rollingstone.com
Despite the death of Juice Wrld on December 8th, punk band Yellowcard still plan to proceed with a copyright infringement lawsuit over the rapper’s hit “Lucid Dreams.”
In the $15 million lawsuit filed in October, Yellowcard accused Juice Wlrd’s Sting-sampling single of using the melody of the band’s 2006 song “Holly Wood Died” “in a manner that is easily recognizable to the ordinary observer.” “Lucid Dreams” is “not only substantially similar to [‘Holly Wood Died’], but in some places virtually identical,” Yellowcard’s lawyer Richard Busch — who also represented the Marvin Gaye...
In the $15 million lawsuit filed in October, Yellowcard accused Juice Wlrd’s Sting-sampling single of using the melody of the band’s 2006 song “Holly Wood Died” “in a manner that is easily recognizable to the ordinary observer.” “Lucid Dreams” is “not only substantially similar to [‘Holly Wood Died’], but in some places virtually identical,” Yellowcard’s lawyer Richard Busch — who also represented the Marvin Gaye...
- 12/19/2019
- by Daniel Kreps
- Rollingstone.com
Yellowcard has filed a multi-million dollar lawsuit against Juice Wrld, claiming the rapper’s hit “Lucid Dreams” copies their 2006 song “Holly Wood Died.”
The suit alleges that Juice Wrld and his producers knowingly copied “Holly Wood Died,” and that “Lucid Dreams” “directly misappropriates quantitative and qualitatively important portions of [‘Holly Wood Died’] in a manner that is easily recognizable to the ordinary observer.” It adds that “Lucid Dreams” is “not only substantially similar to [‘Holly Wood Died’], but in some places virtually identical.”
Along with Juice Wrld (real name Jarad A. Higgins), the suit names as...
The suit alleges that Juice Wrld and his producers knowingly copied “Holly Wood Died,” and that “Lucid Dreams” “directly misappropriates quantitative and qualitatively important portions of [‘Holly Wood Died’] in a manner that is easily recognizable to the ordinary observer.” It adds that “Lucid Dreams” is “not only substantially similar to [‘Holly Wood Died’], but in some places virtually identical.”
Along with Juice Wrld (real name Jarad A. Higgins), the suit names as...
- 10/22/2019
- by Jon Blistein
- Rollingstone.com
Two songwriters have sued Ed Sheeran for more than $20 million, claiming that the British singer's hit song "Photograph" bears a "striking similarity" to a song they penned for a onetime winner of The X Factor, according to multiple reports. Martin Harrington and Tom Leonard filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Wednesday, alleging Sheeran's hit sounds suspiciously similar to a 2012 song released by British singer Matt Cardle, who won the seventh season of X Factor. They're seeking a jury trial and damages in excess of $20 million, as well as royalties from the song. According to Harrington and Leonard, the chorus...
- 6/9/2016
- by Stephanie Petit, @stephpetit_
- PEOPLE.com
Although the copyright dispute over "Blurred Lines" is now headed to an appellate court, there is one big issue remaining for a trial court in the dispute between Marvin Gaye's family and Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke. On Monday, Richard Busch and other attorneys representing the Gayes submitted a motion to a California judge requesting about $2.66 million in attorneys' fees and $777,000 in allowable expenses. The Gayes emerged mostly victorious at a trial last March when a jury came back with a $7.4 million verdict. The judge later trimmed the amount to $5.3 million and granted
read more...
read more...
- 1/12/2016
- by Eriq Gardner
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
"Blurred Lines" just put Robin Thicke and Pharrell $7.3 million in debt to Marvin Gaye's family, and now the Gayes want them to stop selling the song until they pay up. The family's lawyer, Richard Busch, tells Rolling Stone: "We'll be asking the court to enter an injunction prohibiting the further sale and distribution of 'Blurred Lines' unless and until we can reach an agreement with those guys on the other side about how future monies that are received will be shared." Busch also denied that the family's lawsuit was a predatory money-grab: "We didn't start this fight ... They started this war, and we finished it." Talk about getting blasted.
- 3/11/2015
- by Nate Jones
- Vulture
After two weeks of court proceedings, the “Blurred Lines” copyright trial in downtown Los Angeles is now in the hands of the jury. The attorney representing Marvin Gaye’s family put on a dramatic show in his closing arguments Thursday by accusing Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams of a “campaign of changing statements,” and claiming that they had deliberately tried to confuse and distract the jury away from the fact that they copied Marvin Gaye’s 1977 hit “Got To Give It Up” with their 2013 song. See photos: Hollywood’s Most Outrageous Lawsuits (Photos) Richard Busch claimed that ever since the case began,...
- 3/6/2015
- by Pamela Chelin
- The Wrap
Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams are heading to trial after a judge denied their motion for summary judgment in the suit filed by Marvin Gaye’s estate.
Robin Thicke And Pharrell Williams Lose Round 1
In 2013, Gaye’s children, the heirs to his estate, filed suit against Thicke and Williams regarding their hit song, “Blurred Lines,” which they claim was copied from Gaye’s 1977 “Got To Give It Up.” Following a series of depositions, in which Thicke admitted he barely contributed to the writing of the song, U.S. District Court Judge John Kronstadt ruled that there was enough evidence to show that “elements of ‘Blurred Lines’ may be substantially similar to protected, original elements of ‘Got to Give It Up.’”
Kronstadt’s ruling allows the lawsuit to move forward and a court date has been set for Feb. 10, 2015.
Kronstadt also ruled that, going forward, only the sheet music registered with...
Robin Thicke And Pharrell Williams Lose Round 1
In 2013, Gaye’s children, the heirs to his estate, filed suit against Thicke and Williams regarding their hit song, “Blurred Lines,” which they claim was copied from Gaye’s 1977 “Got To Give It Up.” Following a series of depositions, in which Thicke admitted he barely contributed to the writing of the song, U.S. District Court Judge John Kronstadt ruled that there was enough evidence to show that “elements of ‘Blurred Lines’ may be substantially similar to protected, original elements of ‘Got to Give It Up.’”
Kronstadt’s ruling allows the lawsuit to move forward and a court date has been set for Feb. 10, 2015.
Kronstadt also ruled that, going forward, only the sheet music registered with...
- 10/31/2014
- Uinterview
It might seem like ages ago but once upon a time American Idol winners and contestants regularly hit the Top 10 with their songs and become big stars and major moneymakers. Those days of almost assured hits out of Idol may be waning but there is still money on the table from those who hit the tune jackpot. Which is why the music company affiliated with Idol producers 19 Entertainment today took Sony Music to court for royalties that it alleges Kelly Clarkson, Carrie Underwood, Chris Daughty, Clay Aiken and other Idol alumni are owed – especially in the digital realm. In the breach of contract compliant (read it here) filed today in federal court in NYC, 19 Recordings are seeking compensatory damages of more than $7 million, pre and post-judgment interest of “at least $3 million” plus legal and organizational costs and whatever else the jury will give them. ”It was very important to my clients to protect their artists,...
- 2/20/2014
- by DOMINIC PATTEN
- Deadline TV
Eight Mile asserts that Aftermath Records did not have the right to strike a deal for iTunes sales.
By Eric Ditzian
Eminem
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
The multimillion dollar courtroom battle between Eminem and Apple Inc. over the rights to offer digital downloads of the rapper's music began in Detroit on Thursday. At stake is the availability of 93 of Em's iTunes tracks, including his hit single "Lose Yourself," according to The Associated Press.
The dispute boils down to this: Music publishing companies Eight Mile and Martin Affiliated assert that Aftermath Records, which controls the recordings, did not have the authority to strike a deal with Apple to sell Em's music on iTunes. Apple says that Aftermath was well within its right to sign a deal that pays Aftermath 70 cents per download, 9.1 cents of which go to the publishers.
Slim Shady was not in court as the trial began, nor is...
By Eric Ditzian
Eminem
Photo: Kevin Mazur/ WireImage
The multimillion dollar courtroom battle between Eminem and Apple Inc. over the rights to offer digital downloads of the rapper's music began in Detroit on Thursday. At stake is the availability of 93 of Em's iTunes tracks, including his hit single "Lose Yourself," according to The Associated Press.
The dispute boils down to this: Music publishing companies Eight Mile and Martin Affiliated assert that Aftermath Records, which controls the recordings, did not have the authority to strike a deal with Apple to sell Em's music on iTunes. Apple says that Aftermath was well within its right to sign a deal that pays Aftermath 70 cents per download, 9.1 cents of which go to the publishers.
Slim Shady was not in court as the trial began, nor is...
- 9/24/2009
- MTV Music News
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