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☆ Stolen or Original? Hear Songs From 7 Landmark Copyright Cases.
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-27 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +2 min

Here is a guide to some of the most consequential music copyright cases in recent decades, along with excerpts from their recordings. In cases like these, the only material in question are the songs’ underlying compositions: the melodies, chords and lyrics that can be notated on paper. Juries must decide not only if one song copies another, but whether the earlier song was original and distinctive enough to be protected by copyright. “The problem with cases like this is that people ask the wrong question,” said Joe Bennett, a professor at the Berklee College of Music who works as a forensic musicologist in legal cases. “They ask the question, ‘How similar is song B to song A,’ whereas what they should be asking is how original is song A.”Got that?

New York CNN —Musician Ed Sheeran played guitar and sang on the stand Thursday as part of his testimony in a copyright infringement trial about whether his smash single “Thinking Out Loud” copied the classic Marvin Gaye song “Let’s Get It On.”Sheeran played the opening line of “Thinking Out Loud” in an attempt to rebut the testimony of the plaintiff’s expert witness, Alexander Stewart. Kathryn Townsend Griffin, daughter of singer and songwriter Ed Townsend, speaks outside New York Federal Court during a copyright infringement trial against singer Ed Sheeran, Wednesday, April 26, 2023, in New York. John Minchillo/APSheeran is accused of copying “Let’s Get It On” by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 hit with Gaye. Sheeran’s legal team has argued throughout the week that the sounds used in both songs are common in pop music. In his opening statement Tuesday, Townsend attorney Ben Crump noted Sheeran played his ballad and Gaye’s song back-to-back in a medley during a concert, and called the moment a “smoking gun.”

Circuit Court of Appeals, called the April 7 order by U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk "abrupt and profoundly disruptive." The 5th Circuit is preparing to hear May 17 arguments on the matter after the U.S. Supreme Court last week put on hold Kacsmaryk's order. Danco Laboratories, which manufactures the brand-name version of the drug, was due to make a separate filing with the 5th Circuit. A panel of three 5th Circuit judges is scheduled to hear arguments on whether to uphold Kacsmaryk's order. The 5th Circuit has a conservative reputation, with 12 of its 16 active judges appointed by Republican presidents.

☆ Ed Sheeran is being sued for allegedly copying Marvin Gaye — here's where the trial stands
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Stefan Sykes | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Musician Ed Sheeran was in court this week to deny claims that his 2014 song "Thinking Out Loud" is a copy of Marvin Gaye's 1973 classic "Let's Get it On." The high-profile copyright case was brought by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote "Let's Get It On" with Gaye. The defense, which did not cross examine Sheeran, said he'll be back on the stand once more during the trial. Sheeran also said the 2014 concert mash-up only happened because most pop songs use a handful of similar chords. "It is my belief that most pop songs are built on building blocks that have been freely available for hundreds of years."

☆ The Pentagon treats top secret information 'like toilet paper,' says the Vietnam War whistleblower
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-26 | by ( Matthew Loh | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +3 min

There's no reason to think the Discord leak has damaged US national security, Daniel Ellsberg said. "Top secret is like toilet paper" at the Pentagon, said Ellsberg, who leaked the Pentagon Papers. Ellsberg told The Washington Post that the US government tends to keep a "mystique of secrecy." "At the Pentagon, top secret is like toilet paper, it's nothing," the former military analyst told the outlet. Like Teixeira, Ellsberg was charged by the US government in January 1973 for revealing classified information.

Sheeran is accused of copying “Let’s Get It On” by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the 1973 hit with Gaye. Townsend’s daughter Kathryn Townsend Griffin, sister Helen McDonald and the estate of his former wife, Cherrigale Townsend, are the listed plaintiffs on the “Thinking Out Loud” case. In particular he sees melodic similarities in the verse, chorus and interlude of Sheeran’s “Thinking Out Loud,” he said. British singer Sheeran’s legal team has argued that the sounds used in both songs are common in pop music. “No one owns basic musical building blocks,” Ilene Farkas, Sheeran’s attorney, told the jury in opening remarks Tuesday.

[1/5] Singer Ed Sheeran arrives at Manhattan Federal Court for his copyright trial in New York City, U.S., April 25, 2023. "We don't allow dancing," U.S. District Judge Louis Stanton instructed the seven-member jury. The trial is the first of three Sheeran could face from lawsuits over similarities between the two hits. Sheeran is expected to testify again later in the trial as part of the defense case. If the jury finds Sheeran liable for copyright infringement, the trial will enter a second phase to determine how much he and his labels owe in damages.

In a roughly 20-minute speech, Haley described the debate around abortion as an issue for each state to decide. I believe in compassion, not anger," said Haley, a former governor of South Carolina and the only female candidate in the Republican presidential race. During the speech, Haley spoke of personal experiences, including her own difficulty conceiving. REPUBLICANS AT ODDS OVER ABORTIONOff the campaign trail, some Republicans are criticizing the party's handling of the issue. U.S. Republican presidential candidate and former Ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley delivers a campaign policy speech on abortion in Arlington, Virginia, U.S. April 25, 2023.

New York CNN —Musician Ed Sheeran took the stand Tuesday in a high-profile copyright trial about whether his smash single “Thinking Out Loud” copied a classic Marvin Gaye song. Sheeran was called to testify Tuesday by Townsend attorney Keisha Rice. Earlier in Tuesday’s court proceedings, Crump attempted to portray Sheeran as someone who recognized the “magic” of Gaye’s soul song and then used it to catapult his career. She said she hired her own musicologists for her “personal clarity.”There have been a number of prominent music copyright lawsuits in recent years. After his successful 2022 legal battle, Sheeran posted a video to his Instagram voicing his concern over the recent wave of music copyright cases.

☆ Ed Sheeran, Accused of Copying Marvin Gaye, Testifies He Wrote His Song
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-25 | by ( Ben Sisario | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

The pop singer Ed Sheeran took the witness stand Tuesday at a closely watched copyright trial in which he stands accused of copying his ballad “Thinking Out Loud” from Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” and told a jury that he and a collaborator had written their song based on their own experiences. “Yes, Amy Wadge and I wrote the song ‘Thinking Out Loud,’” Mr. Sheeran testified, explaining that they created the song, about holding on to romance throughout a long life, after seeing the affection between his aged grandparents. The case was brought by the family of Ed Townsend, a producer and songwriter who created “Let’s Get It On” with Gaye in 1973. They assert that the “heart” of “Let’s Get It On” — a four-chord progression that repeats in a signature syncopated rhythm — was copied by Mr. Sheeran for his track. Lawyers for Mr. Sheeran argue that those elements are basic musical building blocks that are in the public domain and have turned up in numerous other pop songs.

New York CNN —A copyright infringement case against British pop artist Ed Sheeran is set to kick off this week, with the potential to further complicate the legal landscape for songwriters. The jury was selected Monday in the case against Sheeran, who is accused of copying the 1973 soul hit “Let’s Get It On” by the heirs of Ed Townsend, who co-wrote the song with Marvin Gaye. The trial concerns Sheeran’s song “Thinking Out Loud,” which won the 2016 Grammy award for song of the year. Sheeran, meanwhile, has faced previous legal battles over his music and won. After his successful 2022 legal battle, Sheeran posted a video to his Instagram voicing his concern over the recent wave of music copyright cases.

☆ Artists give new life to Ivory Coast's neglected 'Pyramid'
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-24 | by ( Loucoumane Coulibaly | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS/Luc GnagoABIDJAN, April 24 (Reuters) - International and local artists paint giant, colourful murals on the exterior of a 15-storey building in Ivory Coast's commercial capital called "the Pyramid," an architectural gem that fell into disuse 20 years ago. A symbol of Ivorian prosperity in the 1970s and one of the first towers built in the central business district of Plateau in Abidjan, this futuristic pyramid-shaped building was neglected for years. The project "Pyramid 2023, tomorrow is already born" aims to give it a second life. Through this initiative, Ivorian artistic director Lemon Otto renovates external facades of older building such as Pyramid, which was completed in 1973 under the direction of the Italian architect Rinaldo Olivieri. Many buildings in the business district are internationally known and could teach Ivorians about their own urban history, architects say.

☆ The Janes 1960s underground abortion network
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-23 | by ( Sandee Lamotte | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +28 min

The group was officially created in 1969 as the “Abortion Counseling Service of Women’s Liberation.”But after running ads in an underground newspaper: “Pregnant? “It wasn’t just abortion,” Barron explained. “Vacuum aspiration was much easier to do, and I think it’s less difficult for the woman,” Scott said. We had to keep the service running.”Laura Kaplan volunteered for the Janes, later immortalizing the group in her book, "The Story of Jane: The Legendary Underground Feminist Abortion Service." Each Jane was charged with 11 counts of abortion and conspiracy to commit abortion, with a possible sentence of up to 110 years in prison.

☆ US abortion providers relieved but wary as Supreme Court preserves pill access
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Sharon Bernstein | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

April 21 (Reuters) - Abortion rights supporters expressed relief on Friday after the U.S. Supreme Court preserved access to a widely used abortion pill but warned of a long fight ahead as a legal challenge to the medication continues. Abortion providers had been stockpiling the abortion pill mifepristone or planning to switch to a new regimen amid the battle over the legality of a drug used in more than half of U.S. abortions. Several providers said late on Friday they would pause plans to change their medication abortion protocol in light of the Supreme Court's order. The Supreme Court did not rule on the merits of the case, however, meaning that mifepristone could still be restricted or banned at a later stage in the case. Several states where abortion remains legal, including California, Massachusetts and Washington, previously said they had begun stockpiling abortion drugs in advance of possible restrictions.

☆ Bond yields could drop under an idea that would make Treasury trading more like the stock market
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-22 | by ( Filip De Mott | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

Known as "all-to-all" trading, the idea would allow any market participant to interact directly with another, without intermediaries. But in the Treasury market, banks have traditionally acted as dealers for buyers and sellers. Whether it happens or not, some changes to the Treasury market appear likely as it has become less liquid. At the same time, the Treasury market skyrocketed after 2008, as the government injected large quantities of stimulus into the economy that sent debt soaring. But all-to-all trading may also introduce less rational investors into Treasury markets, applying a gambling mentality to some trades.

☆ Supreme Court says abortion pill mifepristone will remain broadly available during legal battle
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Demonstrators rally in support of abortion rights at the US Supreme Court in Washington, DC, April 15, 2023. The Supreme Court on Friday ordered the abortion pill mifepristone to remain broadly available as litigation plays out in a lower court. The appeals court has scheduled oral arguments for Wednesday, May 17 at 1 pm CT. Mifepristone has become the central flashpoint in the legal battle over abortion since the Supreme Court last summer overturned Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 decision that guaranteed abortion as a constitutional right nationwide. The appeals court judges also suspended the 2019 approval of the generic version of mifepristone.

The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is expected to act before the deadline to either grant or reject the requests or further pause the litigation. The Food and Drug Administration (FDA), the U.S. agency that signs off on the safety of food products, drugs and medical devices, approved mifepristone in 2000. Circuit Court of Appeals on April 12 declined to block the curbs ordered by Kacsmaryk. Anti-abortion groups led by the recently formed Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and four anti-abortion doctors sued the FDA in November. The plaintiffs contend that the agency used an unlawful process to approve the drug, which they consider to be dangerous.

Heirs of songwriter Ed Townsend sued Sheeran, his label Warner Music Group and music publisher Sony Music Publishing for allegedly ripping off Gaye's classic, which Townsend co-wrote. Townsend's heirs sued Sheeran for copyright infringement in 2017, claiming "Thinking Out Loud" copied the "heart" of Gaye's song including its melody, harmony and rhythm. The heirs said in a court filing that they received 22% of the writer's share of Gaye's song from Townsend. Sheeran won a trial in London last year in a separate copyright case over his hit "Shape of You." Gaye's heirs won a landmark verdict in 2015 over claims that the Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams song "Blurred Lines" copied Gaye's "Got to Give It Up."

☆ Limerick’s Once-Hapless Hurlers Get Used to Something New: Winning
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( David Segal | Paulo Nunes Dos Santos | ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +1 min

CORK, Ireland — For decades, the story of Limerick hurling was a tale of failure so filled with off-field drama and on-field defeat that it verged on farce. And it was a farce played out on the country’s grandest, most public stage. The conclusion looked so foregone that Limerick fans left their seats and headed toward the field, anticipating pandemonium. Offaly scored 7 points in a frenzy. Limerick won a single All-Ireland title in 1973, after a decades-long drought, and then didn’t win again for more than 40 years.

☆ Legendary Female Artists on the Younger Women Who Inspire Them
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( ) www.nytimes.com time to read: +20 min

The Artist’s Mind What it feels like for female artists to wrestle with ambition, ego, ambivalence and inheritance. That isolation has, historically, been especially true for women artists, some of the most celebrated of whom have seen “writer” or “painter” or “filmmaker” treated as a secondary part of their identity. For this issue, we asked legendary female artists to tell us about a younger woman whose work excites them and gives them hope. But for the current generation of women artists, who have come of age with models who more closely resemble them, identity seems more like a source of community than a trap. Women artists, born into a Babylon of exclusion and possibility, reveal that creative inheritance is as promiscuous as legal inheritance is strict.

☆ The F-35 is becoming the most popular fighter jet among NATO militaries — with one 'baffling' exception
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-20 | by ( Michael Peck | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +6 min

Romania is the latest NATO member to say it will buy the F-35 stealth fighter jet. To some in the West, Turkey's decision to choose the S-400 over the F-35 just does not compute. As one of the original partners in the US-led F-35 program, Turkey should have been among the first to get the cutting-edge stealth fighter. The F-35/S-400 controversy illustrates Turkey's position as the odd man in NATO since it joined in 1952. Putin and Erdogan inspect a Russian Su-57 fighter jet at the MAKS air show in Russia in August 2019.

WASHINGTON, April 20 (Reuters) - Use of the drug misoprostol on its own to terminate pregnancies is on the rise in the United States as providers seek a preemptive alternative while a ban on abortion pill mifepristone is being considered in court. Misoprostol is already part of the only medication abortion protocol approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but only when taken in combination with mifepristone. The drug, which the FDA first approved in 1988 for gastric ulcers, is often prescribed off-label to treat miscarriages or induce abortions. "If providers are forced to stop providing mifepristone, misoprostol alone is also safe and effective," said Dr. Ushma Upadhyay, a public health professor at the University of California, San Francisco. Because misoprostol is approved for medication abortion in the United States as part of the two-drug combination, prescribing it alone to terminate pregnancies would also be considered off-label.

☆ US Supreme Court faces self-imposed deadline to act on abortion pill curbs
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-19 | by ( Andrew Chung | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

WASHINGTON, April 19 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court on Wednesday faces a self-imposed deadline to act before significant limits on access to the abortion pill mifepristone take effect in a challenge by anti-abortion groups to the drug's federal regulatory approval. The Supreme Court, which has a 6-3 conservative majority, is expected to act before the deadline to either grant or reject the requests or further pause the litigation. In a case that could undercut federal regulatory authority over drug safety, the New Orleans-based 5th U.S. The 5th Circuit did halt a part of Kacsmaryk's order that would have suspended the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approval of the drug in 2000 and effectively pull it off the market. Some 56% of respondents said they have an unfavorable view of the Supreme Court.

☆ Anti-abortion groups urge US Supreme Court to restrict abortion pill
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-18 | by ( Andrew Chung | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

WASHINGTON, April 18 (Reuters) - The U.S. Supreme Court should restrict the availability of the abortion pill mifepristone, anti-abortion groups challenging the medication's federal regulatory approval told the justices in a filing on Tuesday, urging them to implement curbs ordered by a conservative federal judge in Texas. Mifepristone is taken with another drug called misoprostol to perform medication abortion, which now accounts for more than half of all U.S. abortions. The Supreme Court has a 6-3 conservative majority. Anti-abortion groups led by the recently formed Alliance for Hippocratic Medicine and four anti-abortion doctors sued the FDA in November seeking to reverse approval of mifepristone. Since last year's Supreme Court decision, 12 U.S. states have put in place outright bans while many others prohibit abortion after a certain length of pregnancy.

☆ MLB roundup: Phillies score 9 in first, bash 23 hits to rout Reds
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +11 min

Lopez allowed two runs and seven hits in six innings. Both were 2-for-4 as Boston finished with seven hits. Alcantara (1-2) allowed seven hits and five runs (four earned) in six innings for the Marlins. Alek Manoah (1-1) allowed seven runs, nine hits and four walks in 4 2/3 innings for the Blue Jays. Castillo allowed two hits, didn't walk a batter and struck out nine over seven innings.

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