LawTalk Blog

GUNS N’ ROSES ALBUM LEAKER PLEADS GUILTY

According to Wired.com, the blogger who admitted to the FBI that he posted unreleased tracks from the recently-released Guns N' Roses album "Chinese Democracy" has agreed to plead guilty to one count of federal copyright infringement as part of a deal.

The charges against Cogill were reduced from felony to misdemeanor last month, downgrading his potential jail time from a maximum of five years to a maximum of one year.

Cogill is scheduled to enter his guilty plea in court on Dec. 8

Band Discards Record Label Tradition

A New York musical band called Francis and the Lights has recently decided to incorporate itself and acquire outside investment, instead of pursuing a traditional record label deal.  The band received $100,000 from The Normative Music Company.  A representative from The Normative Music Company, Jake Lodwick, compared the arrangement to an internet start-up working with a venture capital firm.

Lodwick also attributed the unique business structure to the uncompromising nature of the band’s lead singer, Francis Starlite. “As a fan of his music, I see no alternative. The traditional role of a “manager” who makes strategic decisions is incompatible with a man whose vision requires absolute control of all artistic and business decisions.”

http://www.nme.com/news/various-artists/40832