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Pandora loses to BMI in court hearing, vows to appeal
Court Watch |
2015/05/15 13:02
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Pandora Media Inc. lost a court hearing Thursday in a dispute with music publishing rights group BMI over royalty rates, but the Internet streaming leader said it will appeal.
Pandora said it's confident it can win later since the appeals court — the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York — last week ruled in its favor in a case against the other major publishing group known as ASCAP.
Thursday's ruling would force Pandora to pay 2.5 percent of its revenue to songwriters and music publishers, up from 1.75 percent. Last week's appeals court ruling allowed Pandora's 1.85 percent rate to ASCAP to stay intact.
If the appeal fails, Pandora says its costs could rise by 0.8 percent of revenue, which would have amounted to about $1.7 million last quarter.
BMI called the ruling a victory for the more than 650,000 songwriters, composers and publishers it represents.
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California court ruling could limit drought fighting tools
Court Watch |
2015/04/23 16:06
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In a ruling that Gov. Jerry Brown says puts a "straitjacket" on local governments trying to fight the severe statewide drought, an appeals court has found that an Orange County city's tiered water rates are unconstitutional.
The ruling by the 4th District Court of Appeal on Monday against the city of San Juan Capistrano potentially deals a blow to agencies statewide that have used the pricing structure to encourage water conservation.
"The practical effect of the court's decision is to put a straitjacket on local government at a time when maximum flexibility is needed," Brown said in a statement after Monday's ruling. "My policy is and will continue to be: employ every method possible to ensure water is conserved across California."
The 3-0 ruling upholds a Superior Court judge's decision that found that charging bigger water users incrementally higher rates violates a voter-approved law that prohibits government agencies from charging more than the cost of a service.
It comes shortly after Brown issued drought orders that call for rates that encourage people to save water, including tiered pricing. About two-thirds of water districts in the state use some form of tiered pricing, and the ruling was being closely watched to see how it might apply beyond the appellate court, which is only binding in Orange County.
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High court rejects Wisconsin appeal over tribal night hunts
Court News |
2015/04/23 16:06
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The Supreme Court on Monday rejected an appeal from Wisconsin officials who want to keep in place a decades-old ruling that bars Chippewa tribes from hunting deer at night.
The justices did not comment on their decision to let stand an appeals court ruling that orders a federal judge to reconsider the ban.
The Chippewa have pushed for years for a night hunt in northern Wisconsin in large swath of the state that the tribes handed over to the federal government in the 19th century. U.S. District Judge Barbara Crabb ruled in 1991 that night hunting was too dangerous.
Last year, the 7th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ordered her to re-open that ruling, noting that that Oregon, Washington, Minnesota and Michigan allow tribal night hunts. The appeals court said the deer hunting has grown much safer over the past 20 years and said hunting at night was not likely to pose serious safety problems.
The Chippewa renewed their push for night hunting in 2012 after state lawmakers angered the tribes by allowing hunters to kill wolves at night. The Chippewa consider the wolf a spiritual brother. The wolf-hunting program ended after one season. |
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'Suge' Knight comes to court for robbery case in wheelchair
Attorney News |
2015/04/15 14:49
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A judge on Wednesday gave former rap music mogul Marion "Suge" Knight time to hire a new attorney in a robbery case filed after a celebrity photographer accused him and comedian Katt Williams of taking her camera last year.
In a separate case, Knight has been charged with murder in a deadly hit-and-run.
The Death Row Records co-founder appeared in a Los Angeles courtroom chained to a wheelchair. He complained to Judge Ronald Coen, saying he could walk. Knight fell at his previous court hearing and has been taken from courthouses four times for medical conditions since he was charged with murder in early February.
The judge promised Knight, 49, that he would not be brought into court in the wheelchair again as long as he was fit to walk.
Coen pressed Knight about whether he wanted a new attorney in the robbery case. His previous attorney, David Kenner, said in a filing he no longer wanted to represent Knight.
Knight said he wanted to fire Kenner and has until May 27 to hire a new attorney.
Knight is due back in court Monday for a preliminary hearing in a murder case filed after he allegedly struck two men with his truck outside a Compton burger stand, killing one of them. |
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Panama court lifts Martinelli's immunity from prosecution
Court News |
2015/04/15 14:48
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Panama's Electoral Tribunal has lifted former President Ricardo Martinelli's immunity from prosecution, clearing the way for authorities to investigate him for alleged corruption.
The lifting of Martinelli's immunity as a member of the Central American parliament had been requested by Panama's Supreme Court and frees it to proceed with his prosecution. The decision was made Tuesday and announced the following day.
The billionaire supermarket magnate faces accusations that he inflated contracts worth $45 million to purchase dehydrated food for a government social program.
Martinelli has denied the charges and says he is the target of persecution by his successor, Juan Carlos Varela. He has left the country and his whereabouts are unknown.
Martinelli governed Panama from 2009-2014, a period of high economic growth but also of corruption, his critics say.
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