{"id":2393,"date":"2023-12-05T11:06:13","date_gmt":"2023-12-05T17:06:13","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/starmediajournal.com\/?p=2393"},"modified":"2023-12-05T12:08:25","modified_gmt":"2023-12-05T18:08:25","slug":"more-top-music-law-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/starmediajournal.com\/more-top-music-law-news\/","title":{"rendered":"More Top Music Law\u00a0News"},"content":{"rendered":"
This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between.<\/em><\/div>\n

This week: A judge issues a ruling in the Hall & Oates lawsuit after the dispute turns public and personal, Young Thug\u2019s RICO trial gets underway in Atlanta with opening statements and witness testimony, Kelly Clarkson wins a California labor law ruling against her ex-husband, and much more.<\/em><\/p>\n

THE BIG STORY: Hall v. Oates Goes Public<\/h2>\n

The mysterious legal battle among Hall & Oates got a lot clearer last week \u2013 with detailed filings from each artist, a hearing in open court, and a judge\u2019s ruling on how the case will proceed.<\/p>\n

To catch you up: After a decades-long, highly-lucrative musical partnership, Daryl Hall sued John Oates last month in Nashville court. The case was initially filed under seal, leading to days of speculation about why the beloved duo had become a house divided. Eventually, unsealed documents showed that Hall had sued Oates to block him from selling part of their joint venture to Primary Wave.<\/p>\n

Last Wednesday, the case burst fully into the open. First, Hall filed court papers accusing partner John Oates of leaving him \u201cblindsided\u201d by secretly arranging the Primary Wave deal \u2013 an act he called the \u201cultimate partnership betrayal.\u201d Oates responded hours later, saying he was \u201ctremendously disappointed\u201d that Hall had chosen to make \u201cinflammatory, outlandish, and inaccurate statements about me.\u201d<\/p>\n

The filings were packed with new details \u2013 not just about the exact contours of the legal dispute, but also about the duo\u2019s broader \u201cdivorce,\u201d about Hall\u2019s problems with Primary Wave in particular, and about each man\u2019s personal feelings toward his former partner. Go read our full story here<\/a>.<\/p>\n

A day later, attorneys for the pair headed to court<\/a> for their first showdown. Hall was repped by Christine Lepera of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, who urged a judge to extend a restraining order preventing Oates from completing the Primary Wave sale until an arbitrator can hear Hall\u2019s objections. Oates was repped by Derek Crownover from Loeb & Loeb LLP, who argued that no such order was necessary.<\/p>\n

On Thursday afternoon, Chancellor Russell Perkins agreed to extend the restraining order, blocking Oates from selling to Primary Wave until February or until the arbitrator tackles the case \u2013 whichever comes first. Go read our full story explaining why.<\/a><\/p>\n

The case will now head to private arbitration, for which an arbitrator has already been selected but an initial hearing has not yet been scheduled. Stay tuned\u2026<\/p>\n

THE OTHER BIG STORY: YSL RICO Trial Begins<\/h3>\n

More than 18 months after chart-topping rapper Young Thug was indicted on accusations that he ran a violent Atlanta street gang, he finally headed to trial last week.<\/p>\n

In their opening statements, Atlanta prosecutors claimed that Thug was \u201cKing Slime,\u201d<\/a> a powerful boss operating his \u201cYoung Slime Life\u201d gang like a \u201cpack\u201d of wolves \u2013 even reading a passage from The Jungle Book for jurors. And they defended their controversial use of his music to help prove it.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe didn\u2019t chase any lyrics to solve any murders,\u201d Adriane Love told jurors. Instead, she said prosecutors in this case \u201cchased the murders and found the lyrics\u201d that pointed to true, specific events.<\/p>\n

A day later, Thug\u2019s lawyer responded<\/a> by telling jurors that his client had been \u201cborn into a society filled with despair\u201d and had merely rapped about violent crime because \u201cthese are the stories he knew\u201d \u2014 and that prosecutors had cherry-picked lyrics that matched the crimes they hoped to pin against him.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is the environment he grew up in. These are the people he knew, these are the stories he knew. These are the words he rhymed,\u201d Brian Steel told the jury. \u201cThis is art. This is freedom of speech.\u201d<\/p>\n

After opening statements concluded, prosecutors began presenting witnesses \u2013 a process that is expected to last months.<\/p>\n

Other top stories this week\u2026<\/h3>\n

SINCE U BEEN GONE<\/strong> \u2013 Kelly Clarkson won a legal ruling in California<\/a> that said her ex-husband Brandon Blackstock owes her more than $2.6 million in commissions she paid to him while he serving as her manager. The decision, issued by California\u2019s labor commissioner, said Blackstock had \u201cunlawfully procured\u201d a number of business deals for Clarkson, including her lucrative role as a judge on The Voice, that should have been handled by her talent agents at Creative Artists Agency (CAA).<\/p>\n

\u2018FICTITIOUS\u2019 CONCERTS? <\/strong>\u2013 Rapper Polo G sued a European tour booking firm<\/a> over canceled plans for a string of concerts, claiming that the company continued to advertise the shows anyway \u2014 actions he calls \u201ca shocking and outrageous fraud.\u201d<\/p>\n

YOUTUBER SLAPPS BACK<\/strong> \u2013 YouTube personality Spencer Cornelia \u2014 known for his investigative video series on the music industry \u2014 prevailed in a defamation lawsuit<\/a> filed by wealth coach Derek Moneyberg. The case, which concerned YouTube interviews in which Moneyberg was termed a \u201cCharlatan,\u201d was tossed out under California\u2019s anti-SLAPP law \u2013 a statute aimed to quash lawsuits that threaten free speech.<\/p>\n

TIKTOK BAN BLOCKED<\/strong> \u2013 Montana\u2019s first-in-the-nation law banning the video-sharing app TikTok in the state was blocked\u00a0by a federal judge<\/a> who ruled that the statute likely violates the First Amendment. The judge ruled that the law \u201coversteps state power and infringes on the Constitutional right of users and businesses.\u201d<\/p>\n

ARETHA ESTATE BATTLE<\/strong> \u2013 A judge overseeing the estate of Aretha Franklin awarded real estate to the late star\u2019s sons<\/a>, citing a handwritten will from 2014 that was found between couch cushions. The ruling came months after a Detroit-area jury said the document was a valid will under Michigan law, despite scribbles and many hard-to-read passages. Franklin had signed it and put a smiley face in the letter \u201cA.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

This is The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between. This week: A judge issues a ruling in the Hall & Oates lawsuit after the dispute turns public and personal, Young Thug\u2019s […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":2395,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[15],"tags":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t