Fetty Wap’s Drug Sentence, A Major SCOTUS Ruling, Ed Sheeran’s Latest Win & More of the Week’s Biggest Legal Stories

This is The Legal Beat, a play newsletter astir euphony rule from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat expanse of large caller cases, important rulings and each nan nosy worldly successful between.

This week: Lawyers for Fetty Wap conflict pinch prosecutors up of his sentencing complete national supplier charges; nan Supreme Court issues a awesome copyright ruling connected Andy Warhol’s images of Prince; Ed Sheeran wins different suit complete “Let’s Get It On”; and overmuch more.

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THE BIG STORY: Fetty Wap Faces Drug Sentencing

With Fetty Wap facing sentencing this week for his condemnation connected national supplier charges, nan rapper’s lawyers and prosecutors are battling complete really overmuch situation clip he should person — and successful nan process, they’ve dipped into 1 of music’s biggest ineligible controversies.

Attorneys for nan rapper, who pleaded blameworthy successful August to participating successful “a multimillion-dollar bicoastal supplier distribution organization,” asked a judge past week to condemnation him to conscionable 5 years — nan minimum nether nan law. They opportunity he only turned to crime to support family members arsenic his touring income dried up during nan COVID-19 pandemic.

But prosecutors quickly fired backmost pinch a darker story: Of a successful musician who had already earned millions but chose to “supplement his income” by trading “drugs he knew would ruin lives.” And notably, they cited Fetty’s euphony itself, claiming he should person a harsher reward successful portion because he utilized his songs to “glamorize nan supplier trade.”

“Before his arrest, nan suspect became celebrated singing astir his acquisition cooking ace cocaine, trading narcotics and making important money from those forbidden endeavors,” prosecutors wrote. “Young group who respect nan suspect and are considering trading narcotics request to beryllium sent a message.”

If you’ve been pursuing euphony rule for nan past year, you’ll cognize that’s a arguable move.

After a high-profile pack indictment against Young Thug successful Atlanta, nan usage of rap lyrics successful criminal cases has travel nether expanding scrutiny. Critics opportunity references to narcotics and unit are banal elements of hip-hop and should not beryllium treated virtually — and that by doing so, prosecutors infringe connected free reside and sway courts pinch unfair evidence, pinch predictably disproportionate harm inflicted connected Black artists.

Lawmakers successful California precocious enacted a rule that sharply restricts nan practice, and legislators successful New York look poised to walk a akin measure later this year. A national measure to limit erstwhile lyrics tin beryllium utilized successful cases for illustration nan 1 against Fetty Wap was re-introduced successful nan U.S. House of Representatives past period but faces a little clear way to transition than nan state-level measures.

To get nan afloat story, including nan existent ineligible documents revenge by some sides, spell publication our afloat articles connected nan sentencing recommendations from Fetty Wap and from prosecutors.

Other apical stories…

SCOTUS RULES ON WARHOL & FAIR USE – Ruling connected a lawsuit that grounds labels and publishers called “critical to nan American euphony industry,” nan U.S. Supreme Court said that Andy Warhol did not make “fair use” of a photographer’s copyrights erstwhile he utilized her images of Prince to create 1 of his unique surface prints. The ruling fundamentally maintained nan position quo for euphony companies, who feared that a determination for Warhol could person disrupted manufacture practices for sampling, aliases perchance fixed ineligible screen for AI companies to usage copyrighted songs.

JIMI HENDRIX DISPUTES HEADS TO UK – A transatlantic ineligible conflict betwixt Jimi Hendrix’s property and his erstwhile bandmates — complete power of nan authorities to euphony created by nan trio’s Jimi Hendrix Experience — is going to beryllium fought chiefly successful London for now, aft a U.S. national judge ruled that she would defer to nan British courts.

ED SHEERAN WINS AGAIN – Less than 2 weeks aft Ed Sheeran won a blockbuster assemblage proceedings complete whether his “Thinking Out Loud” infringed Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On,” a national judge dismissed a second, closely-related copyright case accusing him of copying nan aforesaid iconic song.

YOUTUBE WON’T FACE CLASS ACTION – A national judge dealt a awesome rustle to a suit that claims YouTube enables piracy by restricting entree to copyright devices for illustration Content ID, refusing to let nan lawsuit to proceed arsenic a people action that could person included tens of thousands of rightsholders.

FACIAL-RECOGNITION FIGHT CONTINUES – The proprietor of Madison Square Garden Entertainment filed a caller ineligible action demanding entree to nan telephone records of a New York authorities liquor investigator, opening a caller beforehand successful a sprawling ineligible warfare complete nan usage of facial nickname exertion to prohibition lawyers from venues.