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REMY MA VICTIM LAUNCHES CIVIL SUIT Ma is currently serving an eight year sentence after being found guilty of assault, illegal weapon possession and attempted coercion back in March in relation to an incident in July last year when the rapper shot an associate after an argument over money. Ma claimed the gun went off by accident during a struggle, but the court believed victim Makeda Smith-Barnes, who said the rapper deliberately shot her before speeding away from the scene. The civil lawsuit is seeking over $160 million in compensatory and punitive damages, plus legal costs, which seems a tad optimistic, but whatever. Barnes claims that as a direct result of Ma's action she continues to suffer severe pain and mental anguish, and that she is still unable to hold down a normal job. Although Ma herself is the primary defendant, there are various other defendants listed on the lawsuit, including the Universal Music Group and various Universal subsidiaries, with the legal papers pursuing that argument previously pursued in other legal cases involving law-breaking major-label-signed hip hop types, that the major recognised and fostered Ma's reputation for misbehaving in order to hone her image as a rapper, and that they profited from that image. The record companies, the legal papers say, knew of and profited from Ma's "history of unlawful, violent and anti-social behavior", and had a duty to protect the public from her "unlawful and illegal behavior" rather than using it to market music. It's quite a leap in legal logic to make a record company liable if one of their artists shoots someone, but given suing multi-national conglomerates is generally more profitable, you can see why Barnes and her lawyers will have a good go. The defendants now have until 14 Jul to respond to the lawsuit. -------------------------------------------------- DMX ARRESTED AGAIN -------------------------------------------------- RYAN IN COURT OVER CAB DRIVER ASSAULT Ibrahim claims that Ryan refused to give the driver's details following the incident, in which he claims the rear of his people-carrier had sustained some damage, and that events escalated from there. He told the court: "The female driver did not get out. The male passenger got out and I said I wanted to exchange details but he ignored me. He said there is no damage and he is not going to pay for it. I told him if I didn't get the details I would have to call the police. He was swearing at me, saying 'I don't give a damn shit'. I didn't answer and just went to write down his registration number. As I was writing I got punched on the side of my head. I think he punched me twice and I fell down. I was in shock". One of Ibrahim's passengers at the time of the incident, Peter Collier, corroborated the story of the attack, saying that he saw Ryan punch the driver three times, leaving him with a swelling "the size of a tennis ball". Collier's girlfriend Jane Claydon added that she saw the singer and his girlfriend giggling immediately after the crash and also when he was led away in handcuffs, saying: "They seemed to find it amusing." Commenting on the case, Ryan's defence Raymond Lewis in particular denied allegations that the altercation was racially motivated on Ryan's part, while also claiming that his client was responding to an aggressive movement by Ibrahim. He also accused the cabbie of exploiting the incident for gain - ie, exaggerating his injuries once he found out that Ryan was a famous (or formerly famous?) singer in order to make money out of the situation. "You're milking this aren't you?" said Lewis. "You call a man a racist for no reason". At the time of his arrest Ryan told police: "I think he knew who I was. I've had this before when people know who I am and think they can make a pound note out of me". -------------------------------------------------- BARAT RELEASED FROM HOSPITAL -------------------------------------------------- FICEK TO RELEASE SINGLE -------------------------------------------------- LILY ALLEN POSTS ANTI-RACISM SONG Lyrics include: "Look inside your tiny mind, then look a bit harder/'Cos we're so uninspired, so sick and tired of all the hatred you harbour/So you say it's not OK to be gay, well I think you're just evil/You're just some racist who can't tie my laces, your point of view is medieval/Fuck you, fuck you very much/'Cos we hate what you do and we hate your whole crew, so please don't stay in touch". I expect Boris to learn it word for word. -------------------------------------------------- MORE TALK ABOUT BEATLES HERO GAME -------------------------------------------------- GOLDIE COMPILATION LAUNCH -------------------------------------------------- BASSEY WITHDRAWS FROM MANDELA GIG As previously reported, it is also unclear whether Amy Winehouse will be able to fulfill her booking for the Mandela event given that she is currently undergoing tests for an illness which may or may not be emphysema. -------------------------------------------------- BOY GEORGE REFUSED US VISA, MAY AFFECT TOUR A statement from George's management said: "At the moment, Boy George cannot come to the United States of America because he has been refused permission to enter by the USA Administration. This is not in respect of anything he has done in the past but because he is facing a trial in November in London for something that happened in April last year. George's lawyers in London have absolutely forbidden us to speak about the facts of that case and all I can say is that George is astounded at the decision and is having lawyers here in the States look at it in the hope that someone will change their mind. George really would love to come to America and repay his American fans loyalty and that is why we are asking the US Authorities to reconsider their decision". -------------------------------------------------- ELBOW TOUR 6 Oct: Cambridge, Corn Exchange -------------------------------------------------- HANCOCK TO PLAY ABBEY ROAD SET -------------------------------------------------- CORNERSHOP GIG AND ALBUM NEWS -------------------------------------------------- EDDY GRANT TOUR 27 Jun: Nelson Mandela 90th Birthday Concert, Hyde Park -------------------------------------------------- SINGLE REVIEW: Ladyhawke - Paris Is Burning (Modular) -------------------------------------------------- ISPS IN SERIOUS TALKS WITH LABELS OVER P2P WARNING LETTERS As previously reported, Virgin recently agreed to send out letters to any of its customers that the record companies reckon are illegally sharing music online, telling them they are evil and will almost surely go to hell if they don't both cease and desist with immediate effect, or something like that. Virgin's activity in this area follows increased efforts by the record companies to persuade the ISPs to take a more proactive role in policing P2P file sharing, efforts that have been aided by indication by the government that if the ISPs cannot agree a voluntary code with the content owners then ministers may try and pass new laws forcing them to. According to Digital Music News, other ISPs are now likely to follow Virgin's lead, with even those who really really don't want to get involved in the messy business of shouting at their copyright infringing customers accepting that they might have to. DMN quotes one top level ISP exec as admitting: "The British government just put a gun to our head". Citing sources met at last week's London Calling convention, Digital Music News claim more than one label exec said meetings between ISPs and label reps are ongoing, with Tiscali, Talk Talk and BT among the net firms involved. They add that UK Culture Minister Andy Burnham and Feargal Sharkey, the head of music publishing body British Music Rights, who has been most vocal on the music industry side on the need to find a voluntary rather than legislative system, are both playing key roles. Sharkey is quoted as being optimistic that a widespread agreement between the labels and net firms will be reached without any more government intervention, observing: "At this moment, I am completely optimistic. Three months ago these guys wouldn't even get into the same room". The BPI has also confirmed talks with ISPs are ongoing, with the label trade body's spokesman, Matt Phillips, telling DMN: "While Feargal is playing an important role on behalf of the authors community, so too are we. In terms of voluntary solutions with ISPs [on anti-piracy measures], BPI is negotiating on the labels' behalf, arranging the Virgin Media campaign, for instance". -------------------------------------------------- ZAVVI ANNOUNCE FIRST SALE SINCE REBRAND Confirming the sale, zavvi CEO Simon Douglas told CMU: "We have created the best ever sale that entertainment retail has ever seen, we are offering what amounts to possibly the largest range of discounted music and games with our warehouse clearance stock plus we have hundreds of great discounts across our extensive catalogue of DVDs, Games and CDs - there's a huge range of real gems in the sale stock. With prices starting at only £2, we think our very first sale will hit a chord with our customers". -------------------------------------------------- MUSIC ALLY EVENT TACKLES RETAIL -------------------------------------------------- TICKETMASTER TO TAKE DEBT AND CASH WITH IT WHEN IT SPLITS FROM PARENT COMPANY -------------------------------------------------- UNIVERSAL PUBLISHING DEMO-ING REAL TIME ROYALTY TRACKER -------------------------------------------------- REALPLAYER'S RECORD BUTTON Of course other players that capture streams have been around for ever, but RealPlayer is so much more widely used, and seen as very much a legitimate digital media player, that it may make the recording of streams much more common. Given that the labels have widely assumed streams as opposed to downloads only give web users temporary access to their music, the fact it is becoming easier to capture permanent copies of those streams won't go down so well. Especially when you consider how many people listen to radio services - including the BBC's stations - via the RealPlayer. Music Week quote Reverb Music's Paul Harris thus: "This software has been available for some time, but the problem now is that whereas previously it was obviously illegal and came from clandestine websites, now as big a company, and one with as huge a market penetration as RealPlayer, is endorsing it". -------------------------------------------------- WORKING GROUP PROPOSES ANALOGUE RADIO SWITCH OFF PLAN As previously reported, the government supports an eventual turn off of both analogue TV and radio services so it can flog off the airwaves to the highest bidder. TV and radio firms also advocate the switch over, not least so that they can stop the expensive business of broadcasting both analogue and digital signals at the same time. But the switch off is tricky because it relies on viewers and listeners all having the required digital receivers and, while ownership of digital TV receivers and DAB radio sets continues to grow, many people concurrently use old analogue sets. That is especially true of radio - which is why talk of a switch off of analogue radio has so far been less proactive. While not advocating firm switch off dates just yet, and advising that listeners be given at least two years notice, the Digital Radio Working Group says the government should start to plan for the move away from analogue radio, if only because it might encourage consumers who have been lapping up Freeview digital TV boxes to be similarly keen about DAB digital radio sets, sales of which have been slower. Some believe internet-radio-over-WiFi will take over before DAB properly has time to establish itself as a preferred digital broadcast system, but those that advocate DAB as the better option continue to look to government to help them develop the broadcast medium. -------------------------------------------------- ALBUM REVIEW: Camper Van Beethoven - Popular Songs (Cooking Vinyl) -------------------------------------------------- COLLINS NOT INTERESTED IN MUSICAL OF HIS SONGS -------------------------------------------------- RONSON SAYS JACKO HATES PORN Ronson says: "Me and Sean said 'Michael do you want to see something cool?' We turned the dial to the porn channel and there were strippers shaking their tits around. We were like, 'Michael, Michael how cool is this?' We turned around and he was cringing saying, 'Ooh stop it, stop it, ooh it's so silly'. He was not down with the program whatsoever. I think he just had really strong feminist views on porn and the use of it". |
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