LOS ANGELES (CN) – A federal judge said Monday that he is not “inclined” to rule in favor of Pharrell Williams and Robin Thicke in their court battle with Marvin Gaye’s estate and Funkadelic’s music publisher over “Blurred Lines.”
Last year, pop singer Robin Thicke “reluctantly” sued Marvin Gaye’s estate in federal court, insisting his feel-good hit of the summer was not a rip off of Gaye’s “Got to Give It Up” or Funkadelics’s “Sexy Ways.” The suit also named publisher Bridgeport Music, Frankie Christian Gaye, Marvin Gaye III and Nona Marvisa Gaye as defendants.
Marvin Gaye’s estate and Bridgeport Music filed counterclaims after Thicke asked a judge to declare that the 2013 hit did not violate copyright law.
Thicke and his collaborators on “Blurred Lines,” singer-producer Pharrell Williams and rapper T.I., asked the court on Monday to grant them summary judgment. To support their motion, the plaintiffs submitted the declarations of three experts.
But U.S. District Court Judge John Kronstadt issued a tentative order after the hearing, denying the request. The case was taken under submission, and the order did not specify when Kronstadt will issue a ruling.
In their 2013 complaint, Thicke and Williams said they filed suit after threats of legal action.
“There are no similarities between plaintiffs’ composition and those the claimants allege they own, other than commonplace musical elements,” the pop stars state in their complaint. “Plaintiffs created a hit and did it without copying anyone else’s composition.”
Instead, “Blurred Lines” only evoked an “era,” and is “starkly different” from the Gaye’s and Funkadelic’s songs, the pop stars said.
In a May interview with GQ magazine, Thicke said the number 1 hit was written and recorded in two hours.
“Pharrell and I were in the studio and I told him that one of my favorite songs of all time was Marvin Gaye’s ‘Got to Give It Up,'” Thicke said in the interview. “I was like, ‘Damn, we should make something like that, something with that groove.'”
But in a deposition, Thicke said that he had overplayed his part in the creation of the song and was drunk and on Vicodin when it was recorded.
“To be honest, that’s the only part where – I was high on Vicodin and alcohol when I showed up at the studio. So my recollection is when we made the song, I thought I wanted – I – I wanted to be more involved than I actually was by the time, nine months later, it became a huge hit and I wanted credit,” Thicke said, according to the deposition obtained by The Hollywood Reporter. “So I started kind of convincing myself that I was a little more part of it than I was and I – because I didn’t want him – I wanted some credit for this big hit. But the reality is, is that Pharrell had the beat and he wrote almost every single part of the song.”
Thicke is represented by Howard King with King, Holmes, Paterno & Berliner. The attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Source: http://www.courthousenews.com
By BARBARA LEONARD
MANHATTAN (CN) – As Kesha lobbed a sexual-assault action against Dr. Luke in Los Angeles on Tuesday, the super-producer countered with defamation claims in New York.
The producer, whose real name is Lukasz Gottwald, sued Kesha Rose Sebert and her mother, Pebe Sebert, on Tuesday in New York County Supreme Court.
Vector Management and its president, Jack Rovner, are also named as defendants. Gottwald is joined as a plaintiff by his company Kasz Money.
Kesha meanwhile sued Gottwald, Kasz Money and others in Los Angeles Superior Court.
Gottwald says he discovered the “Timber” singer when she was an unknown in Nashville in 2005. His efforts allegedly turned Kesha “into the prominent platinum-selling artist that she is today.”
By teaming up with Vector last year, Kesha and her mother “have sought to break her agreement with Gottwald,” the complaint states.
Gottwald says Kesha is no longer delivering her sound recordings to him, or letting him produce her work.
Kesha and her mother’s latest claims that Gottwald physically and mentally abused Kesha are defamatory and simply “part of her repudiation of her contract,” the complaint states.
“These defamatory statements contain lurid allegations of physical and mental abuse of Kesha – allegations that Kesha and Pebe have themselves admitted are false,” Gottwald says (emphasis in original). “Kesha and her mother Pebe have wielded these defamatory statements in an attempt to extort Gottwald into releasing Kesha from the exclusive recording agreement.
“Defendants’ injurious conduct should not be countenanced. Gottwald has upheld his end of the bargain, devoting the better part of a decade to transforming Kesha from an unknown entity into a well-known recording star. Kesha’s repudiation of this contractual relationship, and her and her mother’s ongoing campaign to extort a release by tarnishing Gottwald’s reputation, has caused damage to Gottwald as alleged herein.”
The producer says he, his attorney, his representatives and others received emails in late 2013 from Pebe that “claimed, among other things, that ‘Dr. Luke abused Kesha, both physically and mentally.'”
“Pebe also indicated that she was ‘sending all of this [i.e., her accusations about Gottwald]’ to a blogger who started a ‘Free Kesha’ website,” Gottwald added. “All of these accusations above are false. Indeed, Pebe and Kesha know these accusations are false.
“Despite the patent falsity of these accusations, Pebe has made clear that extortion is the ultimate goal of this defamatory campaign.”
Pebe allegedly threatened to “further disseminate accusations of the type above unless Gottwald makes substantial business concessions and lets Kesha out of” her contract with Gottwald.
“Pebe has also had Kesha terminate her attorneys and hire new ones, who have threatened to sue Gottwald and KMI over various meritless claims unless plaintiffs agree to release Kesha from the Gottwald recording agreement,” the complaint states.
Gottwald says one of his business partners got a look this past summer at a “draft complaint” Kesha’s attorneys threatened to file against Gottwald unless he let Kesha out of her recording agreement.
The producer seeks punitive damages for defamation, breach of contract and tortious interference. He is represented by Christine Lepera with Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp.
Kesha’s Lawsuit
The 28-page complaint Kesha filed in Los Angeles paints a different story. It describes Kesha as a “family-oriented” ingenue who was led by Gottwald into dropping out of high school for “a glamorous music career.”
Gottwald allegedly let Kesha’s career “languish” while he focused on the careers of more lucrative artists. When she did see him, Gottwald bragged about getting his dates drunk so that he could “fuck them in the ass,” the complaint alleges.
Kesha says she became desensitized by Gottwald’s actions, which allegedly included cheating on his pregnant wife, demanding that the wife get an abortion, and engaging in “explicit sexual activities with other females” at nightclubs.
“Dr. Luke sexually, physically, and verbally abused Ms. Sebert for a decade in order to make her feel completely worthless and maintain complete control over her life,” the complaint states. “On one occasion, Dr. Luke forced Ms. Sebert to snort an illicit drug before they were scheduled to take a flight. Once on the plane, Dr. Luke continuously forced himself on Ms. Sebert while she was intoxicated and drugged. Ms. Sebert was in such an intoxicated state on the plane that she vomited on herself during the flight.”She says Gottwald gave her “sober pills” on another occasion, but that the drugs turned out to be the “date-rape drug.”
“Ms. Sebert immediately called her mother … telling her that she was naked in Dr. Luke’s hotel room, she did not know where her clothes were, that Dr. Luke had raped her, and that she needed to go to the emergency room,” the complaint states.
Kesha says she never spoke out because Gottwald threatened to “destroy both Ms. Sebert and her entire family.”Though Kesha’s career took off in late 2008 when her vocals were featured in the Flo Rida track “Right Round,” she says Gottwald “constantly insulted her songwriting, vocals, clothing, body, and appearance, as being far below his standards, as well as ‘Hollywood’s standards.'”Kesha says she finally had to seek help in January 2014 and spent two months in a rehabilitation facility.Gottwald’s alleged abuse made Kesha bulimic and severely depressed.
The producer’s other companies, Prescription Songs dba Where Da Kasz At?, Kemosabe Entertainment and Kemosabe Records, are also named as defendants.
Kesha seeks punitive damages and rulings that void her contracts with Gottwald and his companies. She alleges sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, emotional distress, negligent retention and supervision, and violations of various California laws.
She is represented by Mark Ger
Source: Courthouse News Service
Image Credit Kesha – Wikipedia de.wikipedia.org
MANHATTAN (CN) – Taylor Swift’s personal services company owes a security firm thousands of dollars, APG Security claims in court.
APG Security, of New Jersey, sued Firefly Entertainment on Monday in New York County Supreme Court. Tennessee-based Firefly “provides event, management and personal services to the entertainer Taylor Swift and her family,” according to the complaint. Swift herself is not a defendant; only Firefly is. APG claims that it signed a contract with Firefly on June 10, “to provide chauffeur and related vehicle services to Firefly, for the benefit of Taylor Swift (‘Ms. Swift’) and her entourage, in the New York City area.”APG says it leased the Tahoe for $1,500 a month. Things quickly got complicated. “By email dated June 30, 2014, Ryan Malutinok, Firefly’s director of security, presented APG with a list of issues that APG was supposed to ‘remedy as soon as possible.’
“The items listed in the email were nowhere included in the contract, but APG was nonetheless told to ‘remedy’ them. The email specified the provisions APG was supposed to have in the vehicle when transporting Ms. Swift; under what circumstances they could speak to her; and related matters.”APG claims that it complied with “these additional demands,” and that the very next day – July 1 – Malutinok told it to have two more vehicles on call for Swift, beginning July 2.
It did so, APG says, at a cost of $989.94 for one new Chevy Suburban and $1,107.97 per month for a second one. It leased both vehicles for 3 years, APG says. But on July 22, Firefly gave APG 30 days notice. APG claims that under the contract, Firefly owes it for the vehicle leases, or the costs it would incur by buying them and then selling them at a loss.It seeks damages for breach of contract, unjust enrichment, and promissory estoppel.
APG is represented by Kara Cormier with Edwards, Wildman & Palmer.
Source By Permission Courthouse News Service
Image 2014 in Philippine music – Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia en.wikipedia.org
Due to a bad reaction to antibiotics, Miley Cyrus was sent to the hospital in Kansas City for a bad reaction to medication she was taking. Her concert appearance has been cancelled. She has tweeted on Twitter about having a fever and coughing. We know she will get better soon and wish her the best.
Taylor Swift looked dazzling at the ACM Awards hosted Black Sheldon. When Darius Rucker and Lady Antebellum performed the hit “WagonWeel” she was grooving in the audience to the tune.
Her beautiful red lips also gave her additional star dazzle. Wearing a white cut out crop top and long skirt with a slit way up the side showing off her beautiful looked oh “so hot Tay,or Swift”.
Video Below from Taylor Swift’s past performance New Years 2014
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