This is The Legal Beat, a weekly music law newsletter from Billboard Pro, bringing you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, landmark decisions and all the fun stuff in between.
This week: Tupac's estate threatens to sue Drake for using the late rapper's voice. Megan Thee Stallion is facing a lawsuit over sensational allegations from her former cameraman. Britney Spears settles her rift with her father. and many more.
THE BIG STORY: Drake, Tupac & An AI Showdown
The debate over unauthorized voice cloning erupted last week when Tupac Shakur's estate threatened to sue Drake over a recent diss track against Kendrick Lamar that featured an AI-generated version of the late rapper's voice.
In a cease and desist letter first reported by Advertising signLawyer Howard King told Drake that the Shakur estate was “deeply disappointed and disappointed” by the rapper's use of Tupac's voice on “Taylor Made Freestyle.” The letter warned Drake to confirm in less than 24 hours that he would remove the track or the estate would “pursue all legal remedies” against him.
“Not only is the record a blatant violation of Tupac's publicity and estate's legal rights, it's also a blatant abuse of the legacy of one of the greatest hip-hop artists of all time. The Estate would never have given its approval for this use.”
AI voice cloning has been in the music industry's spotlight since last spring, when an unknown artist released a track titled “Heart On My Sleeve” that — ironically — featured fake lyrics from Drake's voice. As such fake voices have continued to proliferate online, industry groups, legal experts and lawmakers have argued over how best to combat them.
With last week's showdown, that debate moved from hypothetical to reality. The Tupac estate presented actual legal arguments for why it believed Drake's use of the late rapper's voice violated the law. And those arguments were apparently convincing: Within 24 hours, Drake began pulling his song from the Internet.
For more details on the controversy, read our full story here.
Other top stories this week…
MEGAN THE STALLION Sued – The rapper and Roc Nation were hit me a lawsuit by a cameraman named Emilio Garcia, who claims he was forced to watch Meghan have sex with a woman in a moving vehicle while she was on tour in Spain. The lawsuit, which alleges he was subjected to a hostile workplace, was filed by the same attorneys who sued Lizzo last year over similar labor laws.
BRITNEY AGREES WITH FATHER – Britney Spears arranged her long-running legal battle with her father, Jamie Spears, which arose after the pop star's 13-year tenure ends in 2021. Britney's lawyers had accused Jamie of misconduct during the years he served as his daughter's conservator, a a charge he categorically denied. Terms of last week's deal were not released.
TRAVIS SCOTT HAS TO FACE THE TRIAL – A Houston judge refused a move by Travis Scott to be dismissed from the sprawling trial over the 2021 Astroworld music festival disaster, leaving him to face a closely watched jury trial next month. Scott's lawyers had argued that the star could not be held legally responsible as safety and security at live events “is not the job of artists”. But the judge overseeing the case denied that move without a written explanation.
ASTROWORLD TRIAL LIVESTREAM? Also in the Astroworld trial, plaintiffs' lawyers argued that the upcoming trial — a crucial first test for hundreds of other lawsuits filed by alleged victims of the disaster — should live broadcast to the audience. “The catastrophic scale of the events at Astroworld, combined with the involvement of high-profile defendants, has generated significant national attention and a legitimate public demand for transparency and accountability,” the lawyers wrote.
HACKING BALLERINI CASE – Just a week after Kelsea Ballerini sued a former Bo Ewing fan for allegedly hacking her and leaking her unreleased album, his lawyers reached an agreement with her legal team, in which she agreed not to share her songs with anyone else — and to name people she's already sent them to. “The defendant shall provide to the plaintiffs the names and contact information of all persons to whom the defendant has distributed the recordings, within thirty days of the entry of this order,” the agreement said.
R. KELLY CONFIRMED BELIEVERS – Federal Court of Appeal upheld R. Kelly's 2022 convictions in Chicago on child pornography and enticement charges, rejecting his argument that the case against him was filed too late. The court said that Kelly was convicted by “a fair jury” and that “no statute of limitations can save him.” His lawyer has promised a trip to the US Supreme Court, although such appeals face long odds.
DIDDY ANSWERS COST – Attorneys for Sean “Diddy” Combs pushed back against a sexual-assault lawsuit filed by a woman named Joi Dickerson-Neal, arguing that he should not have to face claims under statutes that did not exist when the alleged incidents occurred in 1991. His lawyers want the claims — such as revenge porn and human trafficking — to be dismissed from the larger case, which alleges Combs drugged, assaulted and secretly filmed Dickerson-Neal when she was 19 years old.
