Chris Cooke

Lawyers working for Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs have written to a New York court seeking to identify the people who have accused the musician of sexual assault as part of the criminal case against him. Meanwhile, yet another lawsuit has been filed accusing Combs of violent sexual assault

Plans to build a Sphere venue, like the one in Las Vegas, in London were scuppered when mayor Sadiq Khan blocked the project. Sphere Entertainment said it would instead find “forward-thinking cities” in which to expand its venue network. The first of those cities has been confirmed as Abu Dhabi

Ticketing company Festicket collapsed in 2022. Many promoters said money from their ticket sales should have been held in trust, but a judge ruled their contracts with Festicket didn’t establish a trust. Some now claim to have an implied trust arrangement with Festicket’s payment processor Stripe

After the news earlier this week that Universal Music has bought [PIAS] outright, indie label trade group IMPALA has urged regulators to investigate the deal, while also calling for a “new competition approach” from regulators to address concerns around the “creeping dominance” of the three majors

Victims of the Astroworld crowd surge have urged a Texas appeals court to reject a motion filed by Travis Scott that could further delay their lawsuits from getting to trial. They say Scott motion is based on a “supposed ‘emergency’ of his own creation and an incorrect argument”

Clarity on how EU law helps creators protect their rights in the context of AI and new laws to stop buy-out contracts are among the requests of pan-European songwriter and composer group ECSA, in a new manifesto setting out it current policy priorities

HYBE label Ador has formally reappointed founder Min Hee-jin as a director, but she still wants to be CEO. HYBE’s boss, meanwhile, has urged staff to not stress too much about the public feud with Min nor the fact the K-pop company has to pay £223 million to investors who previously bought bonds

A whole raft of Astroworld injury lawsuits have been settled days before three ‘bellwether’ cases - which could influence the others - were due to start in court. Everything has been pushed back to February 2025 - though not Michael Rapino’s deposition, which the live giant was desperate to avoid

Everyone and their dog has an opinion about the Diddy lawsuits, and that could stop him getting a fair trial. That’s what lawyers repping the rap mogul say, and they’re calling for a gagging order to shut up everyone involved in the lawsuits, to stop the “shockingly prejudicial” media coverage

IMPALA has written an open letter to TikTok over its decision to abandon licensing talks with Merlin and force indie labels and distributors to sign direct deals by today. It urges TikTok to return to the negotiating table with the global indie label digital licensing organisation