Entertainment
Judge Slashes Napster Class Action Settlement That Paid Songwriters 30x Less Than Lawyers
Two years after an appeals court overturned a “measly” class action settlement for songwriters that netted their lawyers a huge payout, a judge has now awarded those attorneys just a tiny fraction of their original fee.
The scathing 2023 ruling rejected a deal struck with Napster that secured just $53,000 for songwriters but paid their lawyers a whopping $1.7 million. The appeals court said it was very clearly “unreasonable” to pay attorneys more than 30 times the amount they actually won for their clients.
On Wednesday, a lower court judge heeded that warning and sharply reduced the amount paid to those lawyers under the settlement — all the way down to $86,022.
“The difference between the settlement value … and the [legal fees] figure … is staggering,” Judge Jeffrey S. White wrote in the ruling, obtained by Billboard. “The court therefore finds it appropriate to substantially reduce the [legal fees] figure.”
The ruling came in a class action filed in 2016 against Rhapsody, which has since rebranded as Napster. It was one of several such copyright cases filed in the mid-2010s over the failure of streaming services like Spotify to properly pay mechanical royalties to songwriters.
But the lawsuit — and its prospects for a large payout — were sharply reduced by a competing class action organized by the National Music Publishers’ Association, which eventually drained roughly 98% of the possible class members. The passage of the Music Modernization Act, which largely fixed the problems that led to the litigation, further reduced the scope of the case.
When Napster finally settled in 2019, it agreed to pay as much as $20 million. But because NMPA’s competing lawsuit had decimated the earlier case, Napster ended up paying only $52,841 to the actual songwriters who chose to participate.
When it came time to figure out how much to pay the lawyers who represented the songwriters, their fees were calculated as a percentage of that hypothetical $20 million cap, not the actual payout — resulting in the outsized $1.7 million award.
That outcome shocked the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, which ruled in 2023 that the “meager” payout to songwriters didn’t come close to warranting the massive reward to their attorneys: “This case will likely make the average person shake her head in disbelief,” U.S. Circuit Judge Kenneth K. Lee wrote at the time.
Back at the trial court, the plaintiff’s lawyers (from the law firm Michelman & Robinson LLP) once again asked for a big award, offering a revised request of $1.2 million. Even if the direct monetary payout was small, they argued their lawsuit had provided “significant benefits” to songwriters, including aiding the larger NMPA case and even helping the passage of the MMA.
But in Wednesday’s decision, Judge White said he was required to award the lawyers no more than 25 percent of the total benefit they had won for their clients. Under a revised calculation, the judge put that figure at $358,903 — meaning he would award just $86,022 to the attorneys. That figure will be supplemented by an award of legal “costs” (separate from attorney’s fees) of just over $13,000.
One silver lining for the plaintiffs’ attorneys? The judge also rejected arguments from Napster’s attorney, who had urged him to award the attorneys no more than 25 percent of the original $52,841 — meaning just $13,210 in legal fees.
The plaintiffs’ attorneys at issue in the ruling did not immediately return a request for comment.
NFL player Keion White was shot early Monday (Feb. 9) following an alleged argument with Lil Baby at a San Francisco nightclub.
According to ABC7, White was shot in the ankle at Dahlia’s, where the 49ers defensive lineman was hosting a Super Bowl party.
SFPD responded to calls for gunshots around 4 a.m. PT on Monday, according to ABC7. The San Francisco Standard viewed the police report, which, according to the publication, said a witness told law enforcement that White got into an argument with Baby as the rapper and his entourage tried to enter the private event, and was then shot, hours after the Seattle Seahawks defeated the New England Patriots in Super Bowl LX.
Billboard has reached out to reps for Lil Baby and the SFPD for comment.
“Any violent incident in our city is unacceptable, and I’m hoping Keion recovers quickly. I’ve spoken with SFPD and 49ers leadership — we are all grateful to our SFPD officers for their quick response,” San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said on X. “As always, I will continue working with San Francisco law enforcement to ensure our neighborhoods and our residents are safe.”
According to the San Francisco 49ers, White underwent successful surgery on his ankle and the injuries are not expected to be “career-threatening.”
“A preliminary investigation revealed a verbal altercation occurred between two groups inside a business,” San Francisco police said in a statement, per ESPN. “The victim was injured when shots were fired by an unknown suspect.”
No arrests have been made yet, and no suspects have been named by the San Francisco Police Department.
Lil Baby was spotted attending Super Bowl LX with his son, Jason. On the music side, Baby has already notched collabs with Tkandz as well as Veeze and Rylo Rodriguez in 2026. The Atlanta rapper’s “Mrs. Trendsetter” held at No. 89 on last week’s Billboard Hot 100.
Don Toliver’s busy week across Billboard’s charts includes the rapper-singer’s first No. 1 hit on the Hot Rap Songs list, as “Body” debuts atop the ranking dated Feb. 7. The new champ, on Donnway & Co./Cactus Jack/Atlantic Records, captains his collection of 17 tracks this week’s chart. They’re all from his new album, Octane, which storms in at No. 1 on the all-genre Billboard 200 chart with 162,000 equivalent album units.
The 17-track parade marks the most cuts that Don Toliver has posted on the Hot Rap Songs chart in a single week, and makes him only the sixth artist to claim 17 or more simultaneous appearances. He joins Drake, who has done it twice, Kendrick Lamar, Lil Baby, Playboi Carti and Travis Scott in the chart’s 34-year history.
“Body” owes its coronation on the multimetric Hot Rap Songs chart, a weighted combination of streaming, radio airplay and sales data in the United States, almost entirely to 14.3 million official on-demand streams for the week of Jan. 30-Feb. 5, according to Luminate. Thanks to that sum, it sparks a No. 1 debut on the Rap Streaming Songs chart. In the remaining categories, “Body” had 106,000 radio audience impressions and a negligible amount of song downloads.
With “Body,” Don Toliver achieves his first Hot Rap Songs No. 1 after 30 prior appearances. The performer previously peaked twice at No. 3 through featured roles: He and NAV guested on Internet Money and Gunna’s “Lemonade,” which reached the bronze in November 2020, while his and Future’s supporting turns on Metro Boomin’s “Too Many Nights” led to the same prize in December 2022. As a lead artist, his own “Tiramisu” set his previous career high of No. 6 in September 2025.
Similarly, “Body” leads Don Toliver’s ledger on the Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart (No. 3) and the all-genre Billboard Hot 100 (No. 14).
With “Body” on top, here’s a recap of all 17 Don Toliver tracks on Hot Rap Songs. Among them, 15 are debuts, while “ATM” and “Tiramisu” nab their second and third weeks, respectively.
- No. 1, “Body”
- No. 2, “E85”
- No. 4, “ATM”
- No. 5, “Secondhand,” feat. Rema
- No. 6, “Rendezvous,” feat. Yeat
- No. 8, “Tiramisu”
- No. 9, “Rosary,” feat. Travis Scott
- No. 10, “Call Back”
- No. 11, “Gemstone”
- No. 12, “Excavator”
- No. 13, “Opposite”
- No. 17, “All the Signs,” feat. Teezo Touchdown
- No. 18, “Tuition”
- No. 19, “K9,” feat. SahBabii
- No. 22, “TMU”
- No. 24, “Sweet Home”
- No. 25, “Pleasure’s Mine”
Entertainment
Baby Keem Announces ‘Ca$ino’ Album Release Date & Previews Kendrick Lamar Collaboration
Baby Keem is back. Keem announced plans for his upcoming album, Ca$ino, on Tuesday (Feb. 10), and the sophomore LP is slated to arrive on Feb. 20.
“Ca$ino Feb 20, 2026 Limited Edition Vinyl Available Now,” Keem wrote on Instagram. The 25-year-old revealed the LP’s cover art, which features a photo of a young Baby Keem with the parental advisory sticker.
Ca$ino boasts 12 tracks, including collaborations with his cousin Kendrick Lamar, Too Short, Momo Boys and Che Ecru.
With the four-plus-year layoff, fans are anticipating Keem’s return. “Took your time bro this better be a classic,” one person commented. Another added: “USED TO PRAY FOR TIMES LIKE THIS!”
Keem also released a Ca$ino documentary on YouTube to accompany the announcement. The Booman I doc features appearances from plenty of Keem’s family members describing his upbringing, including an appearance from Kendrick. “I understand the hardships before he was born. Knowing his mom, that’s my first cousin,” he said. “I already knew what she was going through, just the history of our family in general. We don’t call ourselves the hillbillies for nothing.”
Lamar continued: “Section 8, welfare … This is a story of a warfare environment and a warfare psychologically trying to change our generational curses.”
There’s also footage of Keem in the studio working on his collab with Lamar, “Good Flirts.” “Walking in the party, I don’t feel nobody/ What the f—k,” K. Dot raps on the hard-hitting track. “Is it fake, is it love, probably/ I smell something.”
Baby Keem’s debut album, The Melodic Blue, arrived in September 2021 and debuted at No. 5 on the Billboard 200. He released a deluxe for the LP in October 2022 featuring Lil Uzi Vert and PinkPantheress.
Bad Bunnys halftime show sparked emotional reactions across the Americas. See the heartwarming videos now.
NFL Player Keion White Shot Following Alleged Argument With Lil Baby at a Nightclub
‘Pamphlets About Sharia Law and Other Islamic Things’ in Texas High School
How I Paid Off My Mortgage 10 Years Early On A Teacher’s Salary
Send Help review: GLOP! Youre not ready for Rachel McAdams latest… but I love it
Black Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle
-
Business5 months ago
How I Paid Off My Mortgage 10 Years Early On A Teacher’s Salary
-
Tech2 weeks agoSend Help review: GLOP! Youre not ready for Rachel McAdams latest… but I love it
-
Politics5 months agoBlack Lives Matter Activist in Boston Pleads Guilty to Federal Fraud Charges – Scammed Donors to Fund Her Lifestyle
-
Tech5 months agoGet a lifetime subscription to the “ChatGPT for investors” for under $60
-
Tech5 months agoReview: The Dreame H15 Pro CarpetFlex is the first wet/dry vacuum I liked
-
Business5 months ago
25 Low-Effort Side Hustles You Can Start This Weekend
-
Business5 months ago
9 Ways to Command a Six-Figure Salary Without a Bachelor’s
-
Entertainment4 months agoFat Joe Recalls Bruno Mars Snapping on Him Over Question About Puerto Rican Roots: ‘Broke My Heart’