LOS ANGELES (AP) -- The recording and music publishing industries extended their legal pursuit of online music swapping firms on Friday, suing Audiogalaxy for copyright infringement.
The Recording Industry Association of America and the National Music Publishers Association accused the Austin, Tex., firm of "wilfully and intentionally" encouraging and facilitating millions of users to copy and distribute copyright work of artists, ranging from Dave Matthews and Celine Dion to Alicia Keyes and the Beatles.
The two industry groups that filed the suit Friday claim that Audiogalaxy, with more than 15 million registered users, uses a system that is even more egregious than Napster, which the music industry effectively shut down in the courts last year.
Founder Michael Merhej and other AudioGalaxy officials did not immediately return calls placed to their offices late Friday afternoon.
Merhej said previously that AudioGalaxy was taking measures to prevent copyrighted music from being illegally shared, but RIAA officials complained that the measures were insufficient.
Audiogalaxy, which grew out of a music search engine at the University of Texas, not only allows users to download songs and albums, but also cover artwork and software.
The firm uses some 430 computer servers as a hub for users to trade through, providing a huge database that lists thousands of available songs, their file size and download speeds.
In their claim filed late Friday in a New York federal court, the plaintiffs said billions of copyrighted works may have been downloaded illegally.
The company reported more than 1.5 billion monthly hits in November, and makes money by selling online advertising and subscriptions for access to premium services.
The RIAA represents all the major recording companies. The NMPA represents music publishing firms as well as songwriters through its licensing affiliate, the Harry Fox Agency.
Posted by Jen on Sunday, May 26, 2002 @ 10:33 p.m.
More than two dozen people were injured in a mosh pit during an Eminem performance Saturday in Washington, D.C.
While most of the injuries were classified as minor by a fire department spokesperson, five people required hospital treatment and one man suffered a heart attack. He was revived on the scene at RFK Stadium before being taken away for treatment, according to the Associated Press. His condition was unknown at press time.
The incident occurred when audience members surged forward just after 8 p.m., ignoring Eminem's pleas to step back. The show was suspended for 10 minutes as the injured fans were pulled from the pit.
The rapper's performance was part of radio station WHFS-FM's annual HFStival, which this year also featured the Strokes, Hoobastank, Sum 41, N.E.R.D. and the Black Rebel Motorcycle Club.
It was Eminem's first live performance promoting his new album, The Eminem Show, which hit stores Sunday (May 26) (see "Eminem Show Moved Up Again — Album In Stores Sunday").
The two-day HFStival, one of the nation's largest summer radio festivals, was set to continue as scheduled Sunday with sets by Papa Roach, P.O.D., and Dashboard Confessional, among others.
—Joe D'Angelo
Posted by Jen on Sunday, May 26, 2002 @ 10:31 p.m.
DETROIT (Reuters) - Eminem (news - web sites) may still be on probation for brandishing a gun two years ago in a jealous rage, but the bad-boy rap artist makes clear on his latest album how close he might have come to doing time for murder.
In one of the most chilling passages from "The Eminem Show," his anxiously awaited third release, the Detroit-based rapper recounts pulling an unloaded pistol on his then-wife, Kim Mathers, and a friend he claimed she was kissing outside a suburban Detroit bar.
"The smartest (thing) I did was take the bullets out of the gun, 'cause I'd've killed 'em/I would've shot 'em both," he raps on a track titled "Cleanin' Out My Closet."
It is one of the more compelling insights Eminem, whose real name is Marshall Bruce Mathers III, offers about himself on the 20-track collection being rush-released next week by Interscope Records, a unit of Vivendi Universal .
Eminem also lets his softer side show through on the album. He seems to acknowledge a rumored affair with pop diva Mariah Carey -- "I came way too far ... not to say what I got to say/What ... you take me for, a joke?/You smokin' crack?/Before I do that, I'd beg Mariah to take me back."
And he portrays himself as a tender, loving parent trying to make up for the shortcomings of his own father, who abandoned the family when Mathers was young.
The set is expected to be one of the biggest sellers of the year, building on the tremendous commercial success of one of the few white artists to make it big in the world of hip-hop.
Eminem's first two albums, 1999's "The Slim Shady LP" and 2000's "The Marshall Mathers LP," sold nearly 30 million copies combined and have won Grammy awards. They were also condemned by various groups for misogynist and homophobic lyrics.
Pirated copies of "The Eminem Show" prompted Interscope to move the release date of the album from June 4 to May 28. The album's first single, "Without Me," is getting strong airplay on the radio and stands in the Billboard Top 5.
PIT BULL OFF HIS LEASH
As Eminem notes on that track, he's "not the first king of controversy." But the album nonetheless lives up to his self-professed image as a "pit bull off his leash."
The rapper made headlines last week when word surfaced that he hurls a four-letter insult at Vice President Dick Cheney (news - web sites)'s wife, Lynne, one of his biggest critics, on the song "White America." He also lashes out at President Bush (news - web sites), the U.S. Congress and the Federal Communications Commission (news - web sites).
But Eminem saves his harshest attacks for his estranged mother, Debbie Mathers (who he wants to "burn in hell"), and his ex-wife, while in other tracks he declares his love for his 6-year-old daughter, Hailie, and laments the toll his fame and its attendant controversies take on his private life.
Declaring that "I just settled my lawsuits" -- referring to a batch of civil actions brought, respectively, by his mother, a former schoolmate and an assault victim -- Eminem posits himself as an advocate of free speech on "The Eminem Show."
In the track "Square Dance," he announces that "the boogie monster of rap, yeah the man's back/With a plan to ambush the Bush administration/Mush the Senate's face and push this generation/Of kids to stand and fight for the right to say something you might not like."
In "Without Me" he raps that "the FCC (news - web sites) won't let me be," referring to the regulatory agency's threat to fine a Colorado radio station for playing his 2000 hit "The Real Slim Shady" and makes a reference to the vice president's heart problems.
He makes liberal references to his weapons and assault convictions from separate incidents in June of 2000, when he brandished a gun at an employee of a rival rap group and hours later pulled the same gun on his ex-spouse and her companion outside a suburban Detroit bar. In one track, a spoken-word skit titled "The Kiss," Eminem graphically re-enacts the moments leading up to the latter confrontation.
Eminem ultimately pleaded guilty to carrying a concealed weapon and was sentenced in April of 2001 to two years on probation. He also is serving a concurrent one-year probation for the earlier incident.
For his critics, however, it's his daughter, Hailie, who may actually have the final word. She appears on the concluding track to "The Eminem Show" to sing the refrain to the song titled "My Dad's Gone Crazy."
Posted by Jen on Sunday, May 26, 2002 @ 11:28 a.m.
Britney Spears has teamed up with Samsung Telecommunications America (Samsung) for a long-term, multitier-sponsorship agreement. The deal positions Samsung as the official wireless-phone manufacturer of Spears and her Dream Within A Dream 2002 concert tour, a 33-city road trek that kicks off Friday (May 24) at Mandalay Bay Events Center in Las Vegas.
As part of the agreement, Spears's tour will be used as a vehicle to promote Samsung's three new wireless phones: the models SGH-r225M, SPH-a500, and SPH-n400. Spears-themed retail point-of-purchase materials and multimedia elements will also appear in stores across the U.S. and Canada.
"We believe that connecting Samsung's brand and products with Britney will resonate strongly with consumers," said Pete Skarzynski, the senior vice president of wireless terminals for Samsung Telecommunications America. "Britney has developed such a tremendous fan base through her passion for her music, her sense of style, and her energetic performances. These qualities make this a very exciting sponsorship for Samsung."
Samsung is promoting its sponsorship of Britney Spears's 2002 Dream Within A Dream concert tour with radio ads in each concert market, as well as radio-based promotional contests that allow winners to attend pre-concert soundchecks and to view the concert from a VIP suite. Winners will be transported to and from the concerts via a Samsung-wrapped luxury bus.
Britney Spears Dream Within A Dream 2002 tour dates (subject to change):
May 24,25 - Las Vegas, NV - Mandalay Bay Events Center
May 28 - Vancouver, BC - Pacific Coliseum
May 29 - Tacoma, WA - Tacoma Dome
May 30 - Portland, OR - Rose Garden Arena
June 1 - Oakland, CA - Oakland Arena
June 2 - San Jose, CA - Compaq Center At San Jose
June 4,6 - Los Angeles, CA - Staples Center
June 5 - San Diego, CA - Cox Arena
June 10 - Sacramento, CA - ARCO Arena
June 12 - Phoenix, AZ - America West Arena
June 14 - Lubbock, TX - United Spirit Arena
June 15 - San Antonio, TX - Alamodome
June 16 - Houston, TX - Compaq Center
June 20 - Chicago, IL - United Center
June 21 - Indianapolis, IN - Conseco Fieldhouse
June 22 - St. Louis, MO - Savvis Center
June 24 - Auburn Hills, MI - Palace Of Auburn Hills
June 25 - Hamilton, ON - Copps Coliseum
June 26 - Buffalo, NY - HSBC Arena
June 28 - Philadelphia, PA - First Union Center
June 29 - Boston, MA - FleetCenter
June 30 - Worcester, MA - The Centrum
July 6 - East Rutherford, NJ - Continental Airlines Arena
July 9 - Uniondale, NY - Nassau Coliseum
July 10 - Washington, DC - MCI Center
July 11 - Charlotte, NC - Charlotte Coliseum
July 13 - Fort Lauderdale, FL - National Car Rental Center
July 14 - Orlando, FL - TD Waterhouse Centre
July 18 - Bossier City, LA - CenturyTel Center
July 19 - Oklahoma City, OK - Ford Center Arena
July 20 - North Little Rock, AR - Alltel Arena
July 22 - Dallas, TX - American Airlines Center
-- Jason Gelman, New York
Posted by Jen on Sunday, May 26, 2002 @ 11:27 a.m.
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