Pick a Day

Music History Events: Legal Issues

March 6, 2010 Neo soul singer D'Angelo is arrested in Manhattan's West Village when he tries to solicit a sex act from a female undercover police officer.

August 12, 2008 The man who shot and killed John Lennon, Mark David Chapman, is denied parole for the fifth time.

May 6, 2008 In Central London, Mark Saunders, a barrister, Oxford-educated, very secure financially, and married to an equally successful woman, takes a shotgun and fires at random from his kitchen window. Police arrive promptly, and after a siege lasting more than five hours, marksmen open fire on him, and he is shot dead. At the inquest in October 2010, it is ruled he was killed lawfully, and one of the firearms officers involved in the siege is accused of inserting song titles into his evidence. The officer concerned is known only as AZ8, and the songs concerned include "Enough Is Enough" by Barbara Streisand and Donna Summer, "Line Of Fire" by Journey, and "F--k My Old Boots (Robo Cop And Seacombe)" by The Membranes. AZ8 is cleared in March 2011 of doing this with intent. Obviously he had Faith in the British system of Law And Order, the police having to Shoot Shoot a man who was Ticking until he went off Like A Hurricane.

October 13, 2007 T.I. is arrested just hours before he is scheduled to perform at the BET Hip Hop Awards. According to police, the rapper paid $12,000 to a bodyguard to buy three guns for him. Police take him into custody on weapons charges and place him in federal custody over the weekend.

October 1, 2007 A judge awards Kevin Federline custody of his two children with Britney Spears, reasoning that she can't be trusted due to her "habitual, frequent and continuous use of controlled substances and alcohol." Spears starts getting her life together a few months later after her family commits her to a psychiatric institution.

April 13, 2007 Bring Me the Horizon vocalist Oli Sykes appears in Magistrate's Court, after being accused of urinating on a female fan at one of the band's gigs six days earlier. Due to lack of evidence, charges are later dropped.

February 5, 2007 Apple Computers settles a long-standing legal battle with Apple Records, the label set up by The Beatles. The companies have disputed the rights of the computer maker to sell music under the Apple name.

June 16, 2006 The White Stripes win a lawsuit brought on by Ghetto Recorders studio owner Jim Diamond. Diamond claimed he produced the band's first two albums and that the band owed him royalties for his work. In reality, Jack White was the sole producer of those records and Diamond wasn't entitled to any more money as the band had already given him credit as engineer.

November 14, 2005 Mark Ross, known as "Brother Marquis" from the rap group 2 Live Crew, sues Ice-T, claiming he helped write the original version of "99 Problems," which has become a hit for Jay-Z.

September 14, 2005 Tim Foreman, bassist of Switchfoot, speaks out against Copy Protection that Sony have placed on the band's album Nothing Is Sound. Foreman provides fans with a detailed workaround on Switchfoot's message board, although the forum posting is later deleted by Sony.

August 15, 2005 Leonard Cohen files a lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court alleging that his former manager, Kelley Lynch, mismanaged his retirement funds to the tune of at least $5 million. The fraudulent activities purportedly began during the five years Leonard spent away from his career in seclusion at the Mt. Baldy Zen Center.

March 16, 2005 Singer-songwriter Elizabeth Janie Coffey loses an action in England's High Court for copyright infringement in her claim that Madonna's song "Nothing Really Matters" infringed on a song Coffey had written earlier.

March 9, 2005 The tour bus driver for The Dave Matthews Band pleads guilty to dumping sewage into the Chicago River, which hit a group of tourists cruising on an architectural tour. Stefan Wohl denied the charges at first, but admitted it when confronted with surveillance video. The band was not on the bus at the time.

December 18, 2004 T.I. is arrested on gun possession charges for the third time in three years. Authorities search his home and find a silencer-enhanced weapon, several rounds of ammunition, and photos of the rapper handling guns. He is placed under house arrest after posting a $3 million bond.

January 8, 2004 George Harrison's estate sues Dr. Gilbert Lederman of Staten Island University Hospital for $10 million, alleging he forced a dying Harrison to sign souvenirs for him.

August 11, 2003 Phish bass player Mike Gordon is arrested backstage at a Grateful Dead concert in Jones Beach after he is found taking photos of a 9-year-old girl. He is later cleared of the charges, and the girl's parents agree that it was an "unfortunate misunderstanding."

May 15, 2003 t.A.T.u.'s manager Ivan Shapovalov is arrested for disturbing the peace after staging a video shoot in Moscow's Red Square for the duo's song "Show Me Love." Playing up the act's image as teenage lesbian lovers, Shapovalov had arranged for about 200 young girls to dress like t.A.T.u. and kiss each other, which causes a disturbance. By the end of the year, t.A.T.u. will abandon the ruse and admit that they only acted like lovers for the sake of scandalous publicity.

November 20, 2002 After an altercation at a gas station, neo soul singer D'Angelo is arrested at his home. Making matters worse, he resists arrest and is pepper sprayed by police.

July 4, 2002 Michael Abram, the man who attacked and nearly murdered George Harrison some 19 months earlier, is given a conditional release by a Mental Health Review Tribunal, to the fury of George's widow, Olivia. Says Abram: "If I could turn back the clock I would give anything not to have done what I did. But I have come to realise that I was very ill at that time, really not in control."

February 8, 2002 The Chicago Police Department receives a videotape allegedly showing R. Kelly engaging in lewd acts with a young girl. Kelly is indicted on child pornography charges, but found not guilty at trial.

July 11, 2000 Metallica's battle against the peer-to-peer file sharing company Napster reaches the Senate Judiciary Committee, where the band's drummer Lars Ulrich testifies, claiming copyright infringement.

October 7, 1998 Backstreet Boys reach an out-of-court settlement with their former manager Lou Pearlman, who they sued in an effort to gain control of their finances.

June 1, 1998 Scott Weiland of Stone Temple Pilots is arrested for heroin possession in New York the day he is supposed to do a solo show.

January 14, 1998 After a three-year legal battle, Shirley Bassey is cleared of charges brought against her by her longtime assistant, Hilary Levy, who claimed Bassey slapped her and used an anti-semitic slur against her.

November 24, 1997 Johnny Rotten of The Sex Pistols is the defendant in an episode of Judge Judy. The case is a wrongful termination suit brought on by his former drummer, which Rotten wins.

March 19, 1997 Gabrielle's ex-boyfriend (and the mother of her child), Tony Antoniou, is sentenced to life in prison for murdering his stepfather. Gabrielle was called as a witness at the trial.

November 21, 1995 Billie Joe Armstrong of Green Day is arrested for mooning the audience during a show in Milwaukee. He pays a $141.50 fine for indecent exposure.

July 11, 1995 George Michael signs a two-album deal split among two labels: Virgin in the UK and Dreamworks SKG in America. As part of the deal, Sony Records is paid $40 million to release Michael from his contract; after releasing his 1990 album Listen Without Prejudice Vol. 1, he refused to record for the label and filed a lawsuit seeking release from his contract, which he lost.

May 2, 1994 Varg Vikernes, leader of the Norwegian black metal band Burzum, begins his trial for the murder of rival black metal musician (and former bandmate) Oystein Aarseth, co-founder of the band Mayhem. The two men had had a confrontation in August of 1993 which ended with the fatal stabbing of Aarseth. Vikernes was convicted at the trial and was sentenced to 21 years in prison; however he was released early in May of 2009 on probation and currently continues to do business as Burzum, with several albums released since then. He still has fans.

October 30, 1992 George Michael sues his record label, Sony, calling his contract "professional slavery." Michael, who is seeking control of his masters and escape from his 8-album deal, loses the case and is ordered to pay court costs for both sides. In 1995, Virgin and Dreamworks SKG buy his contract from Sony, and Michael resumes his music career with the album Older the following year.