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 | Posted by hiphop101
| Tue, June 26, 2012 at 7:08 PM |
 Rodney King's Family Asks For Donations To Cover His Funeral  Jimmy 'Henchman' Rosemond Admits To Setting Up 1994 Tupac Shakur Shooting
Even in death Rodney King may not be able to find the peace he was desperately searching for. The 47-year-old died of an apparent accidental drowning a week ago, but has yet to be laid to rest, as word comes that his family is having trouble paying for his funeral.
According to TMZ, the King family has come up short of the more than $22,000 funeral price tag.
The family released a public statement encouraging 'those who wish to contribute to the King family,' to make a donation via a newly started memorial fund. 'They need the money,' said their rep, Kali Bowyer.
Although King received a $3.8 million settlement, following the vicious beating handed down by LAPD officers 20 years ago, bad business deals and legal issues ate away at his net worth. As a result, his three daughter's are trying to come up with the money to pay for the ceremony.
King's funeral is expected to take place on June 30.
In all likelihood for Jimmy 'Henchman' Rosemond, the shit has been introduced to the fan. Not only was Henchman found guilty last month for operating a drug ring and indicted for murder on Friday, but he has finally come clean about his role in the infamous Quad Studios shooting of Tupac Shakur.
This shooting turned friends Tupac and The Notorious B.I.G. into bitter enemies and eventually led to demise of both of their lives. Per The Village Voice:
'Rosemond secretly admitted to involvement in Tupac's ambush during one of nine 'Queen For A Day' proffer sessions with the government last autumn, court transcripts show. (In such sessions, suspects under investigation choose to enter an agreement with the government to confess knowledge of certain crimes with the agreement that the information won't be used to prosecute them.) His confession unfolded as he was trying to carve out a cooperation deal that might lead to a reduced sentence, according to federal prosecutors.
'Rosemond apparently came clean about his involvement in Tupac's ambush shortly after his former best friend, Dexter Isaac, stepped forward last summer to publicly confess that he had led the attack on Shakur in 1994. Isaac released a statement on June 16, 2011 to allhiphop.com, saying it was Rosemond who had paid him to rob and pistol-whip Tupac.'
The statute of limitations on robbery is seven years, so although this confession brings minor closure to a huge chapter in Hip-Hop, the involved parties will see zero jail time for this.
The law is finally working in DMX's favor. According to TMZ, a booking agency dropped their $630,000 lawsuit against the rapper.
Heavy Rotation filed the suit against X after a comeback tour never came into fruition. The booking agency signed a one-year deal with the 42-year-old to perform different dates all over the country. Unfortunately both sides couldn't come to an agreement, the shows never happened, and HR claims to have lost $750,000 in the aftermath.
X's team claimed that they terminated the business deal, but failed to give details as to why. In May, he announced the kick-off of his Undisputed: Weigh In tour
 Share on Facebook ·  Bookmark on Delicious Universal Music Group is being asked to pay the piper when it comes to digital licensing -- and the bill could end up being pretty hefty indeed.
Public Enemy frontman Chuck D (born Carlton Douglas Ridenhour) filed a class-action lawsuit against Universal in U.S. District Court in Northern California on Tuesday, alleging that the music giant has short-changed its artists and producers in licensing deals for digital downloads and ringtones.
The suit alleges that Universal owes its artists "hundreds of millions of dollars in royalties" because of the discrepancies.
According to the suit, Universal's artists and producers are entitled to 50 percent of the net receipts from digital downloads and ringtones.
However, the suit alleges, the company has treated such transactions like sales of physical product. Meaning that not only is there a much lower royalty rate involved, but the company makes deductions for things like containers and packaging -- which aren't an issue for digital downloads or ringtones.
The difference, the suit claims, is massive.
According to Ridenhour's claim, under UMG's current method of accounting, artists and producers receive $80.33 for every 1,000 downloads, when the correct amount should be $315.85 per 1,000.
On the ringtone side of things, the discrepancy is even more drastic. The suit claims that UMG's current accounting method yields $49.89 per thousand downloads, as opposed to the $660 per 1,000 that the suit claims is actually owed.
Ridenhour, who claims breach of contract, is demanding a jury trial.
The Public Enemy frontman isn't the only one claiming shenanigans in UMG's accounting. The trust of deceased "Super Freak" singer Rick James has also filed a class-action suit against the company, also claiming that UMG is treating licensing profits as resale profits. Though the company attempted have the complaint dismissed, U.S. District Judge Susan Illston dismissed that motion Tuesday.
TheWrap was unable to reach UMG for comment.
By Tim Kenneally | Reuter  | Posted by news
| Mon, August 29, 2011 at 9:47 PM |
 Rick Ross
Rick Ross is getting sued, yet again, for trademark infringement, except this time it's for his album title name not his own. Rapper Teflon Don, born Donald Askey Jr., filed a lawsuit today (Aug. 29) against Ross, also naming DJ Khaled, Def Jam Recordings, Universal Music Group, Slip-N-Slide Records and Maybach Music Group in the pending suit, for "trademark infringement, common-law trademark rights, trademark delusion, unfair competition, tortious interference and fraud and identity theft," according to MemphisRap.com.
Teflon Don claims that Rick Ross and everyone involved in Ross' Billboard 200 No. 2 album, "Teflon Don," infringed on his brand, ultimately disrupting his growth and success. "I'm building a name, I'm building a brand and for someone to come with an album and an alias the name "Teflon Don" and they have big budgets to put behind it, it blocks me from progressing. I was climbing the ladder and it feels like I went straight downhill and I don't feel like that's fair."
Allegedly, Teflon had "business dealings" with Khaled, UMG's southern division of Def Jam Recordings and was working with Maybach Music Group. "On the...click to continue reading
A lawsuit against Kathryn Stockett, author of the best-selling novel "The Help," has been rejected by a Mississippi judge.
"The Help" was made into a movie that opened last week. It's based on relationships between white families in Mississippi and the African-American women who worked for them in the 1960s.
The lawsuit was filed by Ablene Cooper, a black woman who works for Stockett's brother. She claims a main character, Aibileen, is based on her. Cooper alleged Stockett used her name and likeness without permission.
Circuit Judge Tommie Green ruled Tuesday that a one-year statute of limitations had run out between the time Stockett gave Cooper a copy of the book and the time the lawsuit was filed in February. The lawsuit sought $75,000 in damages  Sean "Diddy" Combs has settled a multimillion dollar lawsuit with three people in a 1999 shooting involving his protegee at a Manhattan nightclub, one of the victim's attorney said on Thursday.
An attorney for one of the victims, Natania Reuben, confirmed the settlement but declined to give further details, saying the settlement that occurred earlier this year was bound by a confidentiality agreement.
"I can confirm it happened, but I can't say anything else because of the confidentiality agreement," attorney Debra Reiser said.
The civil lawsuit stemmed from a December 27, 1999 incident in which Diddy, his then-girlfriend Jennifer Lopez and rapper Jamal "Shyne" Barrow were taken into custody following a shooting scuffle at the now-defunct Club New York in Times Square.
Barrow, who began shooting a gun in the melee, was later convicted of assault in shooting two bystanders who were wounded, while Reuben was wounded in the face by bullet fragments and in 2008 filed a $130 million lawsuit for compensation.
In his criminal trial, Barrow said that the shooting was in self-defense, after another group of men with whom Combs and Barrow had an altercation with started shooting.
Representatives from Diddy's Bad Boy Records, now a subsidiary of Interscope, could not be immediately reached for comment. His spokeswoman did not immediately return a query for comment.
Barrow, 33, was released in 2009 after serving nine years of a ten-year sentence because of assault, weapons possession and reckless endangerment charges stemming from the shooting. Shortly after his release he was deported back to his native Belize.
Combs and an employee of his, Anthony Jones, were acquitted on weapons charges.
The New York Post quoted former Club New York Owner Michael Bergos - who did not sign the confidentiality agreement - as saying that Reuben received $1.8 million in the settlement and that the other two victims received $50,000 and $500,000.
"I did nothing wrong and I may need to talk about (the incident) sometime in the future," Bergos told the Post.
(Reporting by Bernd Debusmann Jr., editing by Christine Kearney) LOS ANGELES – Dr. Dre won't be behind the microphone at a federal courthouse after all — the rapper settled a lawsuit over damages from unauthorized online sales of his album "The Chronic" a day before trial.
Attorneys for the rap superstar, whose real name is Andre Young, filed a notice of settlement in a Los Angeles federal court late Monday afternoon. He had been expected to testify during the weeklong trial, which would have decided whether Young was entitled to 100 percent of the profits from online sales of the rap album, which also helped launch the career of Snoop Dogg.
No details of the settlement, which is not yet finalized, were filed with the court.
In April a judge ruled that WIDEawake Death Row Records didn't have the proper permission to sell Young's music online or repackage it on new CD releases. The label purchased the holdings of original Death Row Records, which launched the careers of several rappers, out of bankruptcy.
He sued WIDEawake Death Row in 2010 for breach of contract, trademark infringement and misappropriation of his likeness.
Young was a co-founder of the label, but negotiated a deal to leave the company that required Death Row to obtain his permission before selling his music digitally. On Monday, "The Chronic" was no longer available for download on Apple's popular music service iTunes.
There was no immediate comment from attorneys for either Young or WIDEawake Death Row.
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Anthony McCartney can be reached at http://twitter.com/celebritydocket The lawsuit by Isaiah D. Thomas and Global Gospel Music against Habakkuk Music, Inc. and April Washington-Essex last March and was dismissed on December 6, 2010 for “lack of personal and subject matter jurisdiction.”
New York, NY (PRWEB) March 7, 2011
After almost a year of making headlines, the lawsuit (Case number 1:10-cv-01818-GBD New York District Court) filed against Habakkuk Music, Inc. ended Friday, when New York District Judge, George B. Daniels dismissed the suit.
The lawsuit which was brought by Isaiah D. Thomas and Global Gospel Music against Habakkuk Music, Inc. and April Washington-Essex last March and was dismissed on December 6, 2010.
Habakkuk Music, Inc. has also worked out an agreement with Global Gospel Music Group, LLC and Isaiah D. Thomas to release him from his recording obligations and to grant Global Gospel the rights to record and distribute his music.
Habakkuk Music, Inc., CEO, April Washington-Essex, said “I’m thankful for the excellent council of my attorney, Mark Frey and the legal team of Serling, Rooks, Ferrara, LLC. As a growing company it is important for us to protect the integrity and credibility of Habakkuk Music. I wish the best for Isaiah Thomas and Global Gospel Music.”
About Habakkuk Music - Habakkuk Music, Inc., an independent gospel music recording label, which launched in September 2008, has a formidable distribution agreement with Universal Music/Fontana Distribution, which includes retail distribution in the United States, Canada and digital worldwide.
Other artists on the label include 2009 Stellar Award Winner Jessica Greene, Rev. Stefanie R. Minatee & Jubilation, Lisa Page-Brooks, James Grear & Company, Kevin Levar & One Sound, Papa San, Debra Ashley, Gail Holmes and more announcements coming soon!
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Jojo Pada2012276945Email Information | Posted by news
| Sat, February 12, 2011 at 5:51 AM |
 T.I.
The relatives of a dead man whose body was filmed in Atlanta by rapper T.I. have sued the artist, complaining that the airing of the corpse on television was disrespectful and done without their consent.
The suit, filed by the family of Joseph Williams, contends that his father, Joseph Williams Sr., and other relatives suffered mental distress after footage of his body was shown in a February 2009 episode of the MTV reality show "T.I's Road to Redemption."
A funeral home employee made a false statement, "stating that the parents didn't know what happened to their son," says the lawsuit, which was filed Wednesday in Fulton County State Court.
The Haugabrooks Funeral Home on Auburn Avenue near downtown Atlanta is listed among the defendants. The company was paid to cremate the body, the suit says. A representative was not immediately available for comment Friday. Neither was T.I., whose real name is Clifford J. Harris Jr. He is in a federal prison in Arkansas on weapons convictions, with a scheduled release date in September.
The premise of the reality show was...Click to continue reading
Source: AJC
Click for more T.I. on BlackVibes.com!
 50 Cent
NEW YORK - 50 Cent made a hit song out of talking about how he gets money. Now another rapper wants to get some too — from 50 Cent.
Lawyers for Tyrone Simmons, an Atlanta rapper who goes by "Caliber," filed a copyright infringement lawsuit Wednesday in federal court in Brooklyn.
The lawsuit names 50 Cent, along with the producer who created the instrumental beat for the 2007 hit song, "I Get Money," and a host of music industry companies.
The lawsuit seeks damages and says Simmons had bought exclusive rights to the instrumental track, and that 50 Cent and others infringed on his rights by using it.
A representative for 50 Cent's record company declined comment. Contact information for the producer could not be found.
Court records show a photographer has settled his lawsuit against Chris Brown claiming the singer's bodyguards injured him.
Robert Rosen sued in May 2009, claiming he was seriously hurt at a gym after being chased by Brown's bodyguards after snapping photos of the R&B singer. Rosen's attorney reported the settlement in a court filing Friday.
The incident happened roughly a month after Brown's arrest in February 2009 for assaulting his then-girlfriend, Rihanna. The 21-year-old singer remains on probation for the attack.
Rosen's attorney, Andrew Bryman, declined to comment through a receptionist. Brown's attorney, Thomas M. Phillips, didn't immediately return a phone message.
The settlement was first reported by celebrity website RadarOnline.com.  | Posted by newsngossip
| Tue, February 23, 2010 at 11:50 AM |
 TMZ is being sued for broadcasting allegedly stolen and confidential footage of an interview with Debbie Rowe soon after her ex-husband, Michael Jackson, died last July.
The details of this lawsuit filed today in California District Court by F. Marc Schaffel Prods. raise interesting questions about TMZ's news operation, copyright issues, and the boundaries between an entertainment clip and a fair-use news product.
In the complaint, the plaintiff claims to be the owner of a 2003 filmed interview with Debbie Rowe. Some portions of the interview were aired in 2003, but others were held back as private and confidential, subject to a joint consent agreement between the interviewer and interviewee.
After Michael Jackson was indicted for child molestation in December 2003, the Santa Barbara County Sheriff obtained and executed a search warrant on Schaffel's home and seized the interview. Two years later, the County Sheriff represented that he returned the property and hadn't released the "confidential outtakes" to anyone.
But last July, TMZ broadcast those confidential outtakes that included a conversation where Rowe talks about needing sedatives. The plaintiff says that Rowe's comments were made in the context of a joke about stage fright (UPDATE: Rowe's stage fright during interviews, not Jackson's, if that's not clear), but taken by TMZ to tie past drug use to Jackson's 2009 death from a drug overdose.
After TMZ aired the interview, Schaffel and Rowe demanded that the confidential outtakes be removed. TMZ first claimed the source of the video as coming from a British TV station, then fessed up that it came from the Santa Barbara Sherriff's Department. The plaintiff says that when confronted, TMZ rescinded the story and claimed its source was confidential.
Schaffel is now seeking damages from TMZ over copyright infringement and conversion. Schaffel says the confidential outtakes have "an estimated value of potentially millions of dollars, the exact amount of which shall be proved at trial."
TMZ may try to claim that its use of the clip was "fair use" and the court may apply the "four factor" test and look into the purpose and character of the use. Does an allegedly stolen entertainment clip need to be cleared or does any broadcaster have the right to broadcast footage in the name of "news" without need to obtain consent? Will a judge apply the rare so-called "fifth" factor of fair use that takes a moral evaluation of the goodness or badness of TMZ into account? And does TMZ as a news outlet get statutory protection from revealing sources of news if they are trying to protect allegedly stolen media?
These will be questions posed in an interesting case that puts TMZ's news-gathering operation under the microscope.
Schaffel also sued Fox News last month for airing the interview. Details of a possible lawsuit against TMZ were first reported by Showbiz411 last August.
Here's the complaint filed by Howard King at King, Holmes, Paterno & Berliner | Posted by newsngossip
| Thurs, November 05, 2009 at 9:09 AM |
Beatles record label EMI is suing U.S. music website BlueBeat.com, which it said was offering unauthorized downloads of the Fab Four's tracks for sale.
"EMI has not authorized content to be sold on BlueBeat.com," a spokeswoman said..
EMI confirmed it had filed a copyright infringement suit against BlueBeat.com in a U.S. court earlier this week..
BlueBeat.com offers songs for 25 U.S. cents each, around one quarter of what a song would typically cost on the dominant online music retail site iTunes, owned by Apple Inc..
On offer is an extensive list of Beatles albums, both original and recently remastered versions, despite the fact that the band has yet to agree with music providers to the release of its cherished catalog online..
A year ago, former Beatle Paul McCartney said the band was keen to make its music available on Apple's iTunes music store, but that negotiations had stalled..
The settlement of a trademark dispute between Apple and The Beatles' company Apple Corps Ltd had raised hopes among fans and record company executives that the way was finally clear for the catalog to make it online..
McCartney said the dispute holding back online sales of Beatles music now lay between the band and EMI..
He said EMI wanted...More EMI
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