Black Eyed Peas sued for copyright infringement
Two separate suits filed
LOS ANGELES, Calif.—Two separate but related copyright infringement lawsuits were filed today in the Southland against the Black Eyed Peas and the hip hop group's record labels and publishers.
A call to a representative for the Black Eyed Peas, which was formed in East Los Angeles in 1995 and is fronted by will.i.am and Fergie, was not immediately returned.
The first complaint, filed in federal court in Santa Ana, alleges the Black Eyed Peas intentionally copied Texas songwriter Bryan Pringle's song "Take a Dive'' when they co-wrote and recorded their Grammy Award-winning hit "I Gotta Feeling.''
The other complaint is the re-filing in Los Angeles federal court of a lawsuit brought in January by Chicago artist Ebony Latrice Batts, aka Phoenix Phenom, and her producer and co-songwriter, Manfred "Manny'' Mohr.
That suit, originally filed in Chicago, accuses the Black Eyed Peas of copying the plaintiffs' "Boom Dynamite'' for the band's hit "Boom Boom Pow.''
Both complaints allege that UMG Recordings, Interscope Records and members of the Black Eyed Peas engaged in "a pattern and practice of intentional copyright infringement with respect to the unlawful copying of songs of unknown or lesser-known artists,'' according to plaintiffs' attorney Dean A. Dickie of the law firm Miller Canfield.
The two suits seek damages, including all net profits received by the defendants as a result of the two songs, as well as future credits and royalty payments.
Carson officials moved ahead Tuesday evening with a lawsuit against Shell Oil Co. calling on the petroleum giant to clean up oil and chemicals oozing up from the Carousel housing tract. The city joined a 2012 suit brought forth by residents living north of Lomita Boulevard between Avalon Boulevard and Main Street demanding that benzene, methane and other raw petroleum chemicals be mitigated, and some compensation be awarded to residents.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — Southern California, including the Inland Empire, continues to have the nation’s worst air pollution and ranks fourth in short-term particle pollution and annual particle pollution, the American Lung Association said today.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A motions hearing that was set to start today has been rescheduled for Wednesday in post-divorce proceedings between Frank and Jamie McCourt in which the value of the Los Angeles Dodgers is at issue.
Jamie McCourt is suing her ex-husband for $770 million, claiming Frank McCourt lowballed the team’s worth in the couple’s settlement.
LOS ANGELES, calif. — A fifth man has filed a lawsuit alleging sex abuse by Kevin Clash, the puppeteer who gave Sesame Street’s Elmo his voice.
The allegations that Kevin Kiadii, 25, made against Clash, 52, are similar to those made by four other men who said they were courted and seduced by Clash when they were underage teenagers.
The lawyer defending Clash called the other suits “meritless and barred by the statute of limitations,” but he did not immediately respond to CNN’s request for comment on the newest filing.
LOS ANGELES, Calif. — A federal appeals panel ruled that an informal citizen-led invocation referring to Jesus that opened Lancaster City Council meetings for years did not endorse Christianity, according to a decision obtained today.
A three-judge panel of the U.S. 9th Circuit Court of Appeals concluded Tuesday that a local bishop’s single reference to Jesus in an invocation in April 2010 was not unconstitutional because it was not used as an attack or promotion of any one religion or government with a particular faith.
