Celebrity

Jury Finds Ed Sheeran Didn’t Copy Marvin Gaye Classic

Published

12 months ago

2023-05-04

NEW YORK – A federal jury in New York determined Thursday that British singer Ed Sheeran did not steal key elements of Marvin Gaye’s classic 1970s song “Let’s Get It On” when he created his hit song “Thinking Out Loud,” prompting Sheeran to joke later that he won’t have to follow through on his threat to quit music.

The emotions of an epic copyright battle that spanned most of the last decade erupted as soon as the seven-person jury announced its verdict after more than two hours of discussion.

Sheeran sighed and buried his face in his hands before embracing his attorney, Ilene Farkas. Sheeran smiled as the jurors filed out of the courtroom and mouthed, “Thank you.”

He then spent nearly ten minutes speaking with plaintiff Kathryn Townsend Gryphon, the daughter of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 soul song with Gaye. They exchanged kisses and smiles.

Sheeran later spoke to media outside the courthouse, repeating his comment during the trial that if he lost the case, he would contemplate stopping songwriting.

“I am very pleased with the outcome of this case, and it appears that I will not have to retire from my day job after all.” But, at the same time, I am extremely frustrated that such baseless claims are even allowed to go to court,” the singer said, reading from a prepared statement.

He also stated that the trial caused him to miss his grandmother’s funeral in Ireland and that he “won’t get that time back.”

Gryphon waited in a hallway with her lawyers before leaving the courthouse, saying she was relieved the trial was over.

“I’m just glad it’s over,” she admitted. “We can become friends.”

She expressed delight that Sheeran approached her shortly after the judgment and had a lengthy conversation.

“It showed me who he was,” Gryphon explained.

She claimed that her copyright complaint was not personal.

“I did everything I could to protect my father’s intellectual property.” “I’m very proud of my father and his work, as well as of myself for doing what I must,” Gryphon concluded.

The verdict came after a two-week trial that included a courtroom performance by Sheeran, who claimed, sometimes furiously, that the trial posed a threat to all musicians who make their music.

Sheeran sat with his legal team throughout the trial, defending himself against Townsend’s heirs’ case. They claimed that “Thinking Out Loud” was too similar to “Let’s Get It On” and thus breached the song’s copyright protection.

At the start of the trial, attorney Ben Crump informed jurors on behalf of the Townsend heirs that Sheeran occasionally performed the two songs together. The jury witnessed a video of Sheeran performing in Switzerland, where he can be heard on stage transitioning between “Let’s Get It On” and “Thinking Out Loud.” Crump claimed it was “smoking gun” evidence he borrowed from the renowned song.

In her closing statement on Wednesday, Farkas stated that Crump’s “smoking gun was shooting blanks.”

She only claimed “basic to the tool kit of all songwriters” and “the scaffolding on which all songwriting is built.”

“They did not imitate it. Not on purpose. Not unintentionally. “Not at all,” Farkas replied.

During his two-day defense testimony, Sheeran repeatedly picked up a guitar resting behind him on the witness stand to demonstrate how he seamlessly creates “mashups” of songs during concerts to “spice it up a bit” for his large crowds.

Under cross-examination, the English pop star’s upbeat demeanor on display during his attorney’s questioning vanished.

“When you write songs, somebody comes after you,” Sheeran said, explaining that others closely followed the case in the industry.

He said he borrowed nothing from “Let’s Get It On” when composing his song.

In their lawsuit, Townsend’s heirs claimed that “Thinking Out Loud” had “striking similarities” and “overt common elements” that made it obvious that it was a knockoff of “Let’s Get It On,” a song that has been featured in numerous films and commercials and received hundreds of millions of streams, spins, and radio plays over the past half-century.

Sheeran’s song, released in 2014, was a smash, earning him a Grammy for Song of the Year.

The defendants in the “Thinking Out Loud” lawsuit included Sheeran’s label, Atlantic Records, and Sony/ATV Music Publishing, but the trial focused on Sheeran.

Amy Wadge, his song’s co-writer who was not a defendant, testified on his behalf and hugged Sheeran after the verdict.

Gaye was 44 when he was assassinated by his father while attempting to interfere in a disagreement between his parents. He had been a Motown celebrity since the 1960s, but his songs published in the 1970s elevated him to the status of a generational musical giant.

Townsend, a singer, composer, and lawyer who wrote the 1958 R&B doo-wop classic “For Your Love,” died in 2003. Gryphon, his daughter, said at court that Sheeran was “a great artist with a great future.”

SOURCE – (AP)

Celebrity

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Files Motion To Dismiss Some Claims In A Sexual Assault Lawsuit

Published

17 hours ago

2024-04-27

Kiara Grace

AP - VOR News Image

Los Angeles – In response to a complaint from a woman accusing Sean “Diddy” Combs of sexual assault, his attorneys have responded. They have submitted a petition to dismiss some claims that were not legally applicable at the time of the claimed incident.

The application submitted in a New York court asserts that Diddy is immune from being sued due to the absence of specific legislation when Joi Dickerson-Deal brought the accusations against him in 1991.

Hollywood Reporter – VOR News Image

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Files Motion To Dismiss Some Claims In A Sexual Assault Lawsuit

The attorneys representing the music entrepreneur are seeking the dismissal of specific allegations made by Dickerson-Deal, including revenge porn and human trafficking, with prejudice.

In a previous legal submission, she alleged that Diddy deliberately administered drugs to her, subsequently took her to her residence, and engaged in sexual assault during a date in Harlem during her time as a 19-year-old university student.

The lawsuit claims that Combs surreptitiously recorded the attack and subsequently distributed it to multiple acquaintances inside the music industry, all without the victim’s awareness. He refuted the accusations, asserting that she was attempting to take advantage of the New York law that temporarily prolonged the period in which legal action could be taken.

Dickerson-Deal’s assertion was made almost thirty years after the supposed wrongdoing, and the New York State Revenge Porn Law was not officially established until 2019, according to Combs’ legal team.

In addition, his legal representatives highlighted several additional laws, such as the New York Services for Victims of Human Trafficking Law, enacted in 2007.

Page Six – VOR News Image

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Files Motion To Dismiss Some Claims In A Sexual Assault Lawsuit

The standard practice of the Associated Press is to refrain from disclosing the identities of those who claim to have experienced sexual abuse unless they choose to make their allegations public, as Dickerson has done.

Recently, federal police conducted raids on Combs’ houses in Los Angeles and Miami as part of a sex trafficking investigation. The criminal probe represents a significant increase in the examination of Combs, who has faced multiple recent lawsuits regarding sexual assault.

Combs resolved a case the day after it was filed in November, in which his former protege and girlfriend, the R&B singer Cassie, accused him of sexual abuse, including rape, over several years. The lawsuit alleges that he coerced her into engaging in sexual acts with male escorts as he recorded the encounters.

In February, a music producer initiated legal proceedings claiming that Combs exerted undue influence on him to engage in the act of soliciting prostitutes and coerced him into engaging in sexual activities with them.

The Mirror – VOR News Image

Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs Files Motion To Dismiss Some Claims In A Sexual Assault Lawsuit

One of the individuals who accused Combs was a lady who alleged that he sexually assaulted her twenty years ago when she was seventeen.

Combs and his legal representatives have refuted all the accusations made in the cases.

SOURCE – (AP)

News

Rapper in Iran Sentenced to Death For Criticizing Regime

Published

1 day ago

2024-04-26

Geoff Thomas

Rapper in Iran Sentenced to Death For Criticizing Regime

A rapper in Iran who rose to prominence for his rhymes about Mahsa Amini’s death in 2022 and criticism of the Islamic Republic has been sentenced to death, his lawyer and rights campaigners said Thursday.

The death sentence handed down to 33-year-old metal shop worker Toomaj Salehi remains unclear, as even Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency and judiciary have yet to formally announce it.

However, the announcement attracted immediate worldwide criticism from US and UN experts, who saw it as a symptom of Tehran’s ongoing assault on all dissent following years of large rallies in the country.

“Art must be allowed to criticize, provoke, and push the boundaries in any society,” a panel of United Nations independent experts on Iran said in a statement Thursday.

The news broke on Wednesday, following a report by Iran’s reformist The Shargh newspaper reported that Salehi had been sentenced to death by a Revolutionary Court in Isfahan, a key Iranian city recently attacked by an apparent Israeli attack. Closed-door sessions, secret evidence, and scant rights for people on trial are common in Iran’s revolutionary courts.

Rapper to Appeal Sentence

Amir Raisian, Salehi’s lawyer, told The Associated Press on Thursday that he had received notice of the death sentence against his client. Raisian said he intended to seek an appeal.

Salehi’s case arises from Amini’s death in 2022, following her arrest by police for not wearing a hijab to their liking. According to United Nations investigators, Iran was responsible for Amini’s death and forcefully suppressed mostly peaceful rallies during a months-long security crackdown that killed more than 500 people and jailed over 22,000 others.

Salehi rapped about Amini in one YouTube video, saying, “Someone’s crime was dancing with her hair in the wind.”

In another lyric, he prophesies the end of Iran’s theocracy. “Your entire past is dark, the government that sucked the light out of your eyes. We begin at the base of the pyramid and work our way up. This is the year of failure after forty-four years in power.”

His other songs were obscene, criticizing the all-volunteer Basij component of Iran’s paramilitary Revolutionary Guard and mentioning Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Salehi was first sentenced to six years in prison, but he was released after Iran’s Supreme Court returned the case to the lower court due to irregularities in his original sentence.

Released on Bond

Salehi was released on bond, but was arrested again in November after claiming in a video message that he had been tortured following his detention in October 2022. At the time, state media aired a video of him blindfolded and apologizing for his statements, which were most likely uttered under duress.

Iran’s judiciary refused to acknowledge the death sentence, despite IRNA referring to “reports” that he had received it.

A death sentence based on the reversal of a lesser sentence is exceedingly unprecedented in Iran, presumably indicating how seriously Iran’s theocracy took Salehi’s statements. It also comes after other journalists, activists, and singers have been targeted after the “Women, Life, and Freedom” protests against Amini.

An Iranian artist, who received a Grammy presented by US first lady Jill Biden, was condemned to more than three years in prison for his hymn supporting the 2022 protests Activists quickly denounced the rappers sentence.

“This grotesque manipulation of the judicial process aims to silence dissent,” Hadi Ghaemi of the New York-based Center for Human Rights in Iran stated. “Toomaj’s detention arises from his public opposition to state tyranny. It is critical that supporters of free speech and dissent come together to demand his immediate release.”

Washington criticized the sentencing as well.

“This is just another example of the Iranian regime’s horrific and pervasive human rights abuses,” said State Department spokesperson Vedant Patel on Wednesday. “We once again condemn the Iranian regime’s … use of the death sentence as a tool to suppress people’s human rights and fundamental freedoms.”

Music

Police Say There Was No Foul Play in Mandisa’s Death

Published

2 days ago

2024-04-26

Geoff Thomas

The Franklin police department in Tennessee has provided an update on the death of Christian singer and former “American Idol” contestant Mandisa, who died last week.

Mandisa, whose full name is Mandisa Hundley, was discovered dead in her Nashville home on April 18, according to a statement on the artist’s official Facebook page. She was 47.

According to a post on X, the program formerly known as Twitter, the Franklin police department stated that there is currently no evidence that Mandisa’s death was the result of suspicious or criminal conduct.

“The Franklin Police Department sends its condolences to Hundley’s family, friends, and fans,” the department said on X.

Mandisa rose to notoriety

K-Love, a Christian music station, was the first to announce the artist’s death. Mandisa rose to notoriety after standing firm in the face of criticism from “American Idol” judge Simon Cowell during season five, according to K-Love.

After finishing in the Top 10 on “American Idol,” she released her debut album, “True Beauty,” in 2007.

She began her singing career with the Fisk Jubilee Singers, an African American vocal group, while attending Fisk University in Nashville, Tennessee, according to K-Love. After her stint on “American Idol,” she collaborated with various musicians, including TobyMac, Matthew West, Michael W. Smith, and Kirk Franklin.

According to her website, She had published five full-length albums throughout the course of her two-decade career, including one Christmas album. Her hit album “Overcomer” won her a Grammy in 2014 for Best Contemporary Christian Music Album.

K-Love said that she has great relationships with her fellow singers, including TobyMac.

“Since the first day I met Mandisa, she has been nothing but original and courageous,” Toby told K-Love in a statement. “My touring family benefits from her presence. She sincerely encourages each performer on stage and every crew member behind the scenes. In a single word, I would describe her as one of the most authentic persons I have ever met. Her passion desires to help others.”