Bob Dylan Defeats ‘Hurricane’ Co-Writer’s Lawsuit Over $300 Million Catalog Sale

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticProducer T Bone Burnett has long promised the development of a new analog format that he promised would improve on both vinyl and CDs, as well as digital streaming and any other existing recorded music medium. Now, he appears closer to reaching that goal with the news that he has been in the studio with Bob Dylan, re-recording some of the legendary singer-songwriter’s classic songs with the purpose of introducing the new ultra-high-fidelity medium.Details are scarce about when the Dylan recordings might come out — not to mention the new hardware that will be required to play them.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticWith its grand opening less than two weeks away, the Bob Dylan Center has announced Steven Jenkins as its director. He’s moved to Tulsa, Oklahoma to oversee the museum’s exhibitions, public programs and daily operations, following more than three decades of work with nonprofits in the San Francisco Bay areaThe hiring announcement comes as the BDC prepares for an opening weekend May 5-8 that will include a gala invitational dinner and celebratory concerts by Elvis Costello, Mavis Staples and Patti Smith.Said Jenkins in a statement, “As an avid listener and fascinated follower of Dylan’s every surprising and illuminating turn, his work has brought me a lifetime of aesthetic pleasures, confounding challenges and profound joy.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorJustin Bieber and Dan + Shay have been hit with a copyright lawsuit that claims they borrowed the “core portion” of their Grammy-winning hit “10,000 Hours” from a comparatively obscure 1980 song called “The First Time Baby Is A Holiday.” The complaint was filed Thursday in Los Angeles federal court by a company called Melomega.“Defendants’ theft is impudently bold,” reads the complaint reads, which also names Dan + Shay’s label, Warner Music Group, as a defendant. “One need only listen to ‘First Time’ and the infringing ‘10,000 Hours’ to discern the unmistakable similarities between the songs.” The claim is supported by musicologist Dr.

Jem Aswad Senior Music EditorSome 57 years ago, Bob Dylan famously enraged folk purists by strapping on an electric guitar and performing with a rock band.What might those purists might have said upon learning that he’d sold his precious song catalog — including such timeless, era-defining classics as “Blowin’ in the Wind,” “Masters of War,” “Mr. Tambourine Man,” “Hurricane” and “A Hard Rain’s A-Gonna Fall” — to a multinational conglomerate for nearly $400 million?On a purely emotional level, selling one’s songs can seem uncomfortably close to selling one’s soul: After all, what is a song if not an expression of its writer’s spirit? But in practical terms, these deals make sense for both sides.

In a turn of events that may be good for business but bad for family relations, Kim Kardashian, Khloe Kardashian, Kylie Jenner and Kris Jenner were in court today as testimony began in Blac Chyna’s lawsuit against them. The lawsuit, brought in November 2017, alleges defamation and interference with prospective economic advantage.

Steven Gaydos Executive VP of ContentThe first time Bob Dylan was mentioned in Variety was 60 years ago on March 28, 1962. The article’s thesis was that the indie labels were more adept at breaking new music acts.

Chris Willman Senior Music Writer and Chief Music CriticThe question of whether and when Bob Dylan will go further west in his concert dates was resolved Monday morning, as the artist’s website revealed a run of 14 new shows, all of them along the west coast, commencing not much more than a month from now.The first of the newly announced shows is May 28 in Spokane, Washington, and the last is June 18 in San Diego. In-between will come concerts in Seattle, Eugene, Redding, Oakland and Los Angeles.

Bob Dylan has announced a number of new West Coast tour dates in North America this summer – see the full list below and pick up tickets here.The dates, an extension of the ‘Never Ending Tour’ that Dylan is currently out on the road for, come behind his lauded 2020 album ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways’.The current set of dates began at the start of March in Arizona and finished up last week (April 14) in Oklahoma City.The new run of dates began in late May in Washington state, running through until mid-June when Dylan will play a host of Californian dates.Get tickets for the new shows here and see the full schedule below.MAY 202228 – Spokane, First Interstate Center for the Arts29 – Kennewick, Toyota Center31 – Portland, Arlene Schnitzer Concert HallJUNE 202201 – Seattle, Paramount Theatre02 – Seattle, Paramount Theatre05 – Eugene, Hult Performing Arts Center07 – Redding, Civic Auditorium09 – Oakland, Fox Theater10 – Oakland, Fox Theater11 – Oakland, Fox Theater14 – Los Angeles, Pantages Theatre15 – Los Angeles, Pantages Theatre16 – Los Angeles, Pantages Theatre17 – San Diego, Civic TheatreIn other Dylan news, Sony Music has acquired all of his back catalogue in a new deal.The agreement, which was concluded last year and announced in January, will see everything from Dylan’s self-titled debut to his last album ‘Rough And Rowdy Ways‘ jump over to Sony in a deal that’s reportedly worth millions.Speaking about the deal, Dylan said: “Columbia Records and Rob Stringer have been nothing but good to me for many, many years and a whole lot of records. I’m glad that all my recordings can stay where they belong.” Later this year, Dylan is set to release a collection of more than 60 essays in a new book.

A.D. Amorosi Incredibly, some 15 years after Axwell, Steve Angello and Sebastian Ingrosso were dubbed “Swedish House Mafia” by fans during a performance at the Winter Music Conference, the trio is finally releasing its first album.“Paradise Again,” which drops today on Republic Records, is getting an extra boost its first week out, when the DJs-turned-artists take the stage at the Coachella festival in Indio, Calif.

K.J. Yossman Pinewood Studios Group (PSG) has posted profits of over £23.5 million ($30.6 million) in its most recent accounts.The accounts, which cover the 12-month period up to March 31, 2021, show a post-taxation profit of £23,517,000 ($30,651,565).That’s an almost £25 million ($32.5 million) increase on the previous year’s accounts, which showed a loss of £1.6 million ($2 million).The company, which is registered at U.K.

Jim Sclavunos, the drummer from Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds, has shared a solo cover of Bob Dylan‘s ‘Lay Down Your Weary Tune’ with The National‘s Scott Devendorf. Check out the charity single below, along with our interview with the musician.The Bad Seeds drummer’s second solo release, following from last year’s ‘Holiday Song’ to benefit the Music Venue Trust, sees Sclavunos team up with Devendorf on bass and Dave Sherman (Valerie June, Nicole Atkins) on piano – with all money raised from the BandCamp sales going to the DEC’s Ukraine Humanitarian Appeal and Ellis Park Wildlife Sanctuary.

Bob Dylan from the widow of a former collaborator was rejected by a court yesterday (April 5).Universal purchased the rights to Dylan’s songs back in December 2020 for a reported $300million (£221million) which in turn triggered a lawsuit from the widow of Dylan’s former collaborator Dan Levy.

The British pop star and his co-writers, Snow Patrol’s John McDaid and producer Steven McCutcheon, had denied allegations that the song copied part of 2015’s “Oh Why” by Sami Chokri, who performs under the name Sami Switch.Sheeran took to Twitter on Wednesday and expressed relief at his legal victory in Britain, though he decried what he called a “culture” of baseless lawsuits intended to squeeze money out of artists eager to avoid the expense of a trial.“Whilst we’re obviously happy with the result, I feel like claims like this are way too common now and have become a culture where a claim is made with the idea that a settlement will be cheaper than taking it to court, even if there is no basis for the claim,” Sheerhan said in a video posted on Twitter.

for a cut of his song-catalogue sale.Claudia Levy failed in her bid to overturn a previous Manhattan ruling that tossed her lawsuit seeking a portion of the money Dylan made when he off-loaded his catalogue to Universal Music Group in 2020. Levy had argued that her late husband Jacques Levy’s estate was entitled to 35 percent of the profits Dylan made when he sold the seven songs her husband collaborated on him with for the legend’s 1976 album “Desire.”But an appeals court Thursday found that Jacques Levy’s contract with Dylan was “unambiguous, and does not entitle plaintiffs to proceeds from the sale of the copyrights of the compositions cowritten with Dylan.”Levy – who died in 2004 – co-wrote the majority of the nine songs on the album with the “Blowin’ in the Wind” singer, for which he had received 35 percent royalties totaling roughly $1 million.His widow brought her the $7.25 million lawsuit against Dylan last year.“Today’s decision puts the nail in the coffin of this opportunistic lawsuit,” Dylan’s lawyer, Orin Snyder, said in a statement. “We are pleased the court has again rejected this sad attempt to profit off of Bob’s recent catalog sale.”Claudia’s lawyer did not return a request for comment.

Bob Dylan‘s ‘All The Tired Horses’, which soundtracked the end of the Peaky Blinders finale on Sunday (April 3).The Irish singer-songwriter’s rendition appeared at the end of season six of the hit BBC drama series, which bowed out at the weekend after nearly a decade on screens.O’Neill said: “It is not an overstatement to say that it was beyond my wildest dreams to be ‘Ordered by the Peaky Fucking Blinders’ to cover this beautiful song from Bob Dylan.“We recorded this version of ‘All The Tired Horses’ in an old horse stables in Cabinteely, South Dublin over the space of two days,” she continued.“We recorded by constant candlelight as a dear friend was dying at the time. This all contributed to the energy and the charge of the final track.

Bethenny Frankel is feeling “unstoppable” after she recently surpassed her $100 million goal in Ukranian relief efforts. Ahead of reaching her milestone, the Skinnygirl founder spoke EXCLUSIVELY with HollywoodLife and revealed how she feels about her successful BStrong Foundation helping those in need as Russian President Vladimir Putin continues the country’s assaults on Ukraine.

Cynthia Littleton Business EditorRyman Hospitality Properties, the Nashville-based parent company of the Grand Ole Opry, has struck a deal to sell a 30% stake in its entertainment operations to investment firm Atairos and NBCUniversal.The transaction values Ryman Hospitality’s Opry Entertainment Group unit at about $1.4 billion in total. Atairos and NBCUniversal will invest approximately $293 million in Opry Entertainment Group (OEG), which consists of the weekly “Grand Ole Opry” stage show and media rights, Nashville’s famed Ryman Auditorium, the legendary Nashville radio station WSM-AM and a 50% stake in TV channel Circle, the streaming home of “Grand Ole Opry.” The pact calls for Atairos to invest another $30 million in OEG down the road if certain performance targets are met.

Brian Wilson is involved in a legal battle with his ex-wife Marilyn Wilson-Rutherford over a $50 million deal he signed late last year in relation to his songs catalogue with Universal Music Publishing.According to legal papers, there were two elements to the mega-bucks deal between Wilson and the publisher, which already controlled his songs catalogue (although Wilson and his father originally set up their own publishing business in the early 1960s, that was subsequently sold with the catalogue ultimately ending up with Universal).The first element of the big deal saw Universal acquire the songwriter share of income Wilson retained under his original publishing deal. The second element related to Wilson’s termination right under American copyright law, via which he could seek to reclaim the US rights in his songs.