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.
Entertainment
sombr Stops Show to Scold Venue Staff After Fan Seemingly Passes Out: ‘You Need to Pay Attention’
At his recent show in London, sombr paused the program to call out event staff after a fan appeared to faint in the audience without receiving help.
While in the midst of singing his breakout Billboard Hot 100 hit “Back to Friends” on Tuesday at O2 Academy Brixton, the Gen Z pop star suddenly waved at his band to stop playing. “Stop the show,” he said before addressing people working the concert, as captured in videos posted on social media. “Guys, there’s someone passed out over there.”
sombr Returns With New Song ‘Homewrecker,’ Navigates Love Triangle With Quenlin Blackwell & Milo Manheim in Western Music Video
“This is the most poorly managed venue I’ve ever played at in my life,” he continued. “You need to pay attention. It’s insane. I’ve played three nights here, and I’ve never played at a more poorly managed venue.”
Billboard has reached out to reps for sombr and O2 Academy Brixton.
Before proceeding with the show, the artist told the crowd, “Let me know when everyone’s good.”
sombr is currently on a run of shows in Europe, with dates planned for venues in Manchester, Birmingham, Glasgow and Dublin. This summer, he’ll play a slew of festivals, including Coachella and BottleRock Napa Valley.
The New York native also had another mid-show interruption recently, this time during his performance at the BRIT Awards. While he was singing “Undressed” at the ceremony, a man wearing a “Sombr is a homewrecker” shirt ran out on stage and appeared to hit Sombr; as it turned out, it was a pre-planned stint to help promote his new single “Homewrecker,” which recently debuted at No. 26 on the Hot 100.
And despite the momentary frustration, Sombr had only kind words to say about his overall experience playing for fans in London. “I love you so much,” he wrote over a video of the crowd at O2 Academy Brixton on his Instagram Story. “Thanks so much for an unforgettable past 3 nights. I’ll be back London.”
While the K-pop world is grappling with the unexpected news that ENHYPEN is no longer seven members following member Heeseung’s seemingly out-of-nowhere announcement of his departure, the industry has certainly been blindsided by such abrupt exits many times.
While Heeseung’s situation was shocking, it unfolded fairly calmly. On March 10, announcements came from ENHYPEN’s official channels, alongside a handwritten letter from Heeseung himself and ENHYPEN’s own statement on social media. Comparatively, some of K-pop’s biggest groups have been changed forever by dramatic announcements from members, via notices of legal action or vague updates from their agencies — the latter of which can sometimes be the most heartbreaking for fans.
From one of K-pop’s most landmark member exits in Junsu, Yoochun and Jaejoong from TVXQ! in 2009 (which ultimately rid the industry of so-called “slave contracts”) to years like 2014, 2019 or even last year, where multiple popular groups saw members drop from their groups, Billboard is sharing a timeline of the 15 most shocking exits from K-pop groups.
Membership changes are never easy, even when fans suspect something may have shifted for the group or there is an internal or external issue. Members of K-pop groups have left for the sake of their mental health or sometimes due to ongoing external pressure from issues from their past arising. For the purposes of this timeline and its relation to the news surrounding ENHYPEN and Heeseung, we’re focusing on K-pop member exits that seemingly came out of nowhere, with no prior indication, hiatuses or controversy.
Read on to learn how rare it is to have Heeseung remain under the same label as his former group in BELIFT LAB to pursue his solo career and more, in this look through K-pop’s most unexpected member departures.
Entertainment
Watch Harry Styles Bust Marcello Hernandez for Impersonating Him Ahead of ‘SNL’: ‘Are Those My Clothes?’
Sorry, Marcello Hernandez — there’s only one Harry Styles. On the set of Saturday Night Live ahead of the pop star’s upcoming hosting and performing stint, the comedian got a little too comfortable impersonating that week’s guest in a promo video posted Wednesday (March 11).
The teaser opens as a spoof on Styles’ One Night in Manchester concert special trailer, with the piano intro to his new single “American Girls” playing over shots of what looks like the singer’s silhouette striking poses and dancing across the stage. A record-scratch moment happens when the real Styles walks in with SNL castmember Kenan Thompson, busting Hernandez, who’d been pretending to be the Grammy winner that whole time.
“What are you doing, Marcello? Are those my clothes?” Styles asks a visibly embarrassed Hernandez.
“Yeah, sorry,” the stand-up comic stutters, suddenly shy about wearing Styles’ pinstriped, flared slacks. “I thought you weren’t coming, so I thought I’d just go on as your understudy.”
Perplexed, Styles explains where he and Thompson had been. “I’m 15 minutes late, because Kenan and I went out for pain au chocolat. It’s a tradition when I host.”
Suffice to say, it’ll be Styles — the real Styles — helming SNL on Saturday (March 14), returning to host for the second time. He previously led an episode of the show in 2019.
The Brit will also serve as musical guest on the new episode, having just dropped his new album, Kiss All the Time. Disco, Occasionally. The project was led by Billboard Hot 100-topping single “Aperture” and features second single “American Girls,” both of which are strong contenders for the tracks Styles will perform at 30 Rock — although fans will have to tune in to the live show to find out.
Watch Styles’ SNL promo above.
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