Songwriter-members of rap innovators the
Furious Five on Friday (6/23) filed a lawsuit against
Will Smith and his label
Sony Music, among others, for copyright infringement and unfair competition. The plaintiffs claim that Smith unlawfully used a portion of their 1979 song, "Superappin'," for his song, "Will2K," which was released on the "Willennium" album. "I think it goes without saying," a band member said, "we're furious." … Ex-
A Tribe Called Quest rapper
Q-Tip pled guilty to third degree assault Monday (6/26) and walked.
Q-Tip admitted to punching and breaking the jaw of 28-year-old aspiring rapper
Kenrick Miranda at the
Virgin Megastore in Times Square on March 15. By pleading guilty, Q-Tip was sentenced to an unconditional discharge, and had to pay a court-imposed mandatory surcharge of a $120. "$120? That's outrageous," said the rapper's lawyer, regarding the settlement. "Where is my client ever going to come up with $120?"…
The Rolling Stones' former record label lost a battle Monday in the war over who owns the rights to
a pair of songs first recorded by the
late Robert Johnson. At issue were the tunes "Love In Vain" and "Stop Breakin' Down." At the time, the band believed that any common-law copyrights on the song had expired, the band's
ABKCO label said. But the court ruled that a law passed by Congress in 1997 eliminated those facts. The estate of Robert Johnson will be paid in cigarettes and guitar picks…
NSYNC's scheduled June 25th performance in Joliet, IL, was postponed when a four-story stage being built at the
Route 66 Raceway came crashing down in a violent
thunderstorm. The storm struck less than
48 hours before the boy band was to take the stage in front of an estimated 60,000 fans.
Backstreet-ers
Howie D. and
AJ were being held for questioning… An announced appearance by
Britney Spears prompted about 400 children and parents to line up outside Pennsylvania radio station
WBHT-FM's studio. Their hopes were shattered when a limousine pulled up and a tuxedo-clad man emerged carrying a Britney Spears doll in a box. "See, I told you she was a real doll to work with," disc jockey
Bill Fox told the crowd. Fox then completed crushing the dreams of the fans in attendance by telling them that there was no Santa Claus and that Rosebud was a sled.