Never a dull moment in the Music Industry...

http://www.memphisrap.com/index.php?t=article&m=1643

There is nothing new under the sun…

Infamous Hip-Hop artist, Rick Ross (William Leonard Roberts II) keeps giving the impression that his creative flow has a tendency to dry up.  Ross is currently being sued for his 2010 album Teflon Don due to copyright infringement.  According to Memphisrap.com, up and coming independent Hip-Hop artist, Teflon Don, claims that Rick Ross, DJ Khaled and Def Jam were all aware of not only his name and reputation but blatantly disrespected him, by allowing negativity (Rick Ross’ lyrics) to be associated with the positive brand he has been building over the last decade.

No one truly knows the inter-workings amongst Ross, Khaled and Don himself, however this does seem like a disregard for a fellow musician on Ross’ part.  Ross could have easily searched for terms Teflon or Don and came up with a different concept.  Why specifically Teflon Don?

http://www.digitalmusicnews.com/stories/080511rapper

Rally against The Waffle House?  Seriously?

This is a serious issue, but it’s hard not to find this somewhat amusing due to the content.  Recently, Waffle House Capital, LLC and Waffle House, Inc. issued a “cease and desist letter” to Hip-Hop artist, J.R. Bricks due to the use of their trademark utilized in the advertisement of his new song “Waffle House (After the Club).”  J.R. Bricks, an artist of German-American label Block Starz Music LLC, offered to rename the song “WaffelHaus (After the Club)” so as not to infringe upon the Waffle House’s trademark.  Pat Warner, Waffle House’s spokesperson states "Whether they put it in German or Spanish, it would still be 'Waffle House’.”

Block Starz has now decided to implement a rally in Atlanta against Waffle House for cultural discrimination, claiming Waffle House does not want to be associated with the Hip-Hop lifestyle.  I haven’t set foot in a Waffle House in years, but every time I come across one, I see a variety of Hip-Hop, Country, Pop and any other genre-oriented persons in that place.  Mr. Bricks, I don’t believe a rally is really necessary.

Copyright Infringement with a twist.

Instead of turning copyright infringement into a drawn out negative legal battle, popular Punk-Rock Band Blink-182, decided to go a different route. “If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em!”  Blink-182 teamed up with AT&T to market a new device from HTC towards a more “youthful and rebellious” demographic.  In return, AT&T will sponsor the band’s upcoming tour.

For Blink-182’s first new song in eight years, Up All Night, the band members scanned through numerous YouTube videos of fans using their music without permission.  As a reward (for using their music), Blink-182 created a video montage of fan submissions as the music video.  That’s one way of making up for profit loss!

Rick Ross: http://www.memphisrap.com/index.php?t=article&m=1643
J.R. Bricks: http://www.billboard.biz/bbbiz/industry/branding/waffle-house-claims-trademark-infringement-1005304292.story
Blink-182: http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/03cd09da-c1f7-11e0-bc71-00144feabdc0.html#axzz1XKNKZOQX