In today's CMU Daily: A jury has sided with 2 Live Crew in a termination rights dispute with the label that owns their early recordings. The group is trying to reclaim those rights, but the label said they couldn’t because their albums were made on a ‘work for hire’ basis. The jury rejected that argument

Also: The lawyer who included Universal Music as a defendant in a Diddy lawsuit insists his sources are “reliable”; Dynamic pricing on ticketing platforms could be banned in Australia as part of a government plan to prohibit “unfair trading practices”; the music community pays tribute to Liam Payne

Plus: WILDES is CMU Approved

2 Live Crew win back control of early albums as court rejects label’s ‘work for hire’ claim 

A US jury has ruled that 2 Live Crew are entitled to reclaim the rights in their early albums by exercising the termination right in American copyright law. 

They rejected arguments put forward by Lil Joe Records, the label that currently owns those copyrights, that the termination right didn’t apply because the group had made the recordings in the late 1980s and early 1990s as employees of the label under a ‘work for hire’ agreement. 

According to Rock The Bells, 2 Live Crew member Luther Campbell confirmed the win outside the courthouse yesterday. “We won, we got all our shit back from Lil Joe Weinberger ... all our albums”, he said, before adding, “God is so good, you just gotta believe in him”. 

Quite what involvement God had in the proceedings is unclear, but there were some facts that everyone agreed on. It was Campbell’s label Luke Records that originally owned and released the 2 Live Crew albums. The recordings were then acquired by Lil Joe Records - run by Joseph Weinberger - in 1996, when both Campbell and his label went bankrupt. Weinberger had previously worked as general counsel and CFO for Luke Records. 

Summing up his arguments in court earlier this week, attorney Scott A Burroughs, speaking for the 2 Live Crew members, criticised Weinberger’s treatment of the group, both now and back in the 1990s. According to Law 360, he told the court, “They trusted this gentleman, and what did he do? He betrayed them and steered them into bankruptcy”.

The termination right is a provision in US copyright law that allows an artist...

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Aussie government will crack down on “businesses ripping off Australians”, with ban on dynamic ticketing on the cards

The Australian government has announced plans to “stop businesses ripping off Australians by banning unfair trading practices”. The proposed new laws are set to impact on the ticketing business in the country, with the dynamic pricing of tickets one of the things in the government’s crosshairs.

“From concert tickets to hotel rooms and gym memberships, Australians are fed up with businesses using tricky tactics that make it difficult to end subscriptions or add hidden fees to purchases”, a statement from the government says. “These practices can distort purchasing decisions, or result in additional costs, putting more pressure on the cost of living”. 

Dynamic pricing is one of six practices highlighted by the Australian government which it pledges to regulate through new laws. The use of dynamic pricing in ticketing - where ticket prices increase depending on demand - has proven controversial in recent years, and especially recent months, with the use of dynamic pricing by Oasis in the UK and Green Day in Australia prompting a backlash. 

These new plans from the Australian government come as practices employed by ticketing companies - including both primary ticket agents and ticket resale platforms - are being increasingly scrutinised in multiple countries. 

The live sector more generally has been in the spotlight in Australia, with...

Lil Rod’s lawyer says sources “reliable” and UMG “shouldn’t think they’re in the clear” on Diddy allegations - whilst major says “no evidence” it was involved in “freak-offs”

A legal representative for Universal Music has told Law 360 that the major music company has “heard nothing to suggest they are targets or subjects” of any federal investigation into the alleged conduct of Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs, whatever Tyrone Blackburn, lawyer to producer Rodney ‘Lil Rod’ Jones, says. In court they added there is “no evidence whatsoever” that the company was present at “any so-called freak-off”.

Universal’s statement followed comments made by Blackburn during a court hearing relating to the explosive lawsuit Jones filed against Combs earlier this year, in which the music company and its CEO Lucian Grainge were named as co-defendants. 

The major is still very angry indeed at being pulled into the litigation that was instigated by Jones, even though Blackburn voluntarily removed the company from the lawsuit after admitting there was “no legal basis” for the claims that had been made against it. 

Universal is so angry that it wants Blackburn to be formally sanctioned for connecting the company to “vile criminal activity” without evidence, and by relying on “fabricated” facts, and it was in court this week making that case. Such sanctions could include Blackburn being ordered to pay a penalty or - possibly far more serious for the lawyer - to cover Universal’s costs in responding to Jones’s lawsuit. 

Despite having backtracked on involving Universal in Jones’s lawsuit, Blackburn was keen to stress to the judge overseeing the case that the sources he spoke to when preparing his client’s litigation were reliable.

According to Law 360, he also claimed that Jones has since provided “key evidence” to...

Music community pays tribute to Liam Payne 

The music community has paid tribute to Liam Payne who died yesterday, aged 31, after falling from a third floor balcony at a hotel in Buenos Aires, Argentina. 

The former One Direction member’s family also issued a statement earlier today. They say, “We are heartbroken. Liam will forever live in our hearts and we’ll remember him for his kind, funny and brave soul. We are supporting each other the best we can as a family and ask for privacy and space at this awful time”. 

Among the numerous artists paying tribute on social media was Rita Ora, who collaborated with Payne on the 2018 track ‘For You’. She writes, “I’m devastated. He had the kindest soul, I will never forget. I loved working with him so much - he was just such a joy to be around on and off stage. This tragic news breaks my heart. Sending all my love and prayers to his family and loved ones. Our song ‘For You’ takes on a whole new meaning for me now”. 

Fellow ‘X-Factor’ alumnus Olly Murs also posted to social media, stating, “This news is devastating, am lost for words. We always had a good laugh when we saw each other … Liam shared the same passions as me, the same dreams, so to see his life now end so young hits hard, I’m truly gutted and devastated for his family”. 

The local authorities in Buenos Aires have said they are currently investigating the circumstances surrounding the singer’s death

🎧 Approved: WILDES

WILDES, the project of Anglo-Irish musician and producer Ella Walker, crafts spacious, deconstructed, exquisitely arranged indie pop. 

Known for her bewitching and deceptively brooding sound, WILDES consistently pushes boundaries and her latest single, ‘Kopfkino’, is no exception. This track marks the beginning of an exciting collaboration with acclaimed Irish producer St Francis Hotel (Little Simz and Michael Kiwanuka). 

‘Kopfkino’ explores the interplay between fantasy and reality, opening with a dense, brooding rhythmic section that gives way to a tapestry of atmospheric production flourishes. Guided by WILDES’ intoxicating vocals, the song reflects on the mind’s power to create and destroy, as well as the struggle for meaning in a performative world.

“‘Kopfkino’ is an immersion in the mind, and explores both the light and dark that we experience as individuals”, Walker says. “From dwelling on a difficult moment frozen in time, to escaping blissfully into the imagination, and struggling to distinguish fantasy from reality, daydreams visit us all”. 

🎧 Listen to ‘Kopfkino’ here