Lil Wayne, Birdman hit with fed copyright suit in NY over use of Fla. man’s banter on 2 albums

October 22nd, 2009 Lil Wayne pleads to attempted gun possessionNEW YORK — In the midst of a career surge that has made him one of rap's biggest stars, Lil Wayne is bracing for a year behind bars after pleading guilty Thursday in a two-year-old gun case. A glum Lil Wayne said little as he admitted illegally having a loaded gun on his tour bus in 2007, moving to end a case that had churned along as he collected Grammys and gold records.

October 21st, 2009 Validity of DNA test argued in Lil Wayne gun case NEW YORK — Lil Wayne's gun possession case is putting a leading edge of DNA science under a microscope. As the Grammy-winning rapper sat in a Manhattan court on Wednesday, a hearing began on a debated, highly sensitive DNA profiling technique used to tie him to a gun found on his tour bus in 2007.

October 21st, 2009 Lil Wayne due for DNA hearing in NYC gun caseNEW YORK — Lil Wayne has a date in a Manhattan courtroom, but DNA science will take center stage. A hearing on a DNA profiling technique used in the rapper's 2007 gun-possession case was due to start Wednesday.

October 21st, 2009 Chinese group says Google violating copyrightsSHANGHAI — Search engine powerhouse Google is facing new complaints over its book-scanning digital library project — from Chinese authors who say their copyrights are being violated. The objections raised by a government-affiliated group called the China Written Works Copyright Society are the latest in the conflict between Google and copyright holders in the U.S., Europe and elsewhere over its ambitious effort to make more printed works available to a wider audience online.

October 21st, 2009 Lil Wayne appears for DNA hearing in NYC gun caseNEW YORK — Lil Wayne is appearing in a Manhattan courtroom, but DNA science is taking center stage. A hearing on a DNA profiling technique used in the rapper's 2007 gun-possession case started Wednesday.

October 19th, 2009 Book scanning prompts review of EU copyright lawsBRUSSELS — The European Commission said Monday it may revise copyright law to make it easier for companies like Google Inc. to scan printed books and distribute digital copies over the Internet.

October 16th, 2009 Lawyers for Obama poster artist say he misled themNEW YORK — Attorneys for poster artist Shepard Fairey, who designed the famous Obama "HOPE" image, say he based it on a photograph taken by The Associated Press and not another picture, as the artist had claimed. In papers filed Friday in federal court in Manhattan, Fairey's attorneys said they had amended their lawsuit against the AP, which had alleged copyright infringement.

October 5th, 2009 Trial begins in Idaho girl's hypothermia deathBOISE, Idaho — Jury selection has started in the trial of an Idaho man charged with involuntary manslaughter after his 11-year-old daughter hiked several miles in the freezing cold on Christmas Day and died. Robert Aragon is also charged with felony injury to a child after his son, Bear, who was 12, suffered hypothermia.

October 1st, 2009 Trial set for Lil Wayne on Ariz. drug chargesYUMA, Ariz.

September 30th, 2009 Jamaica's Andrew Tosh found guilty of possessionKINGSTON, Jamaica — A son of the reggae legend who promoted the legalization of marijuana has been convicted of possessing the drug. Andrew Tosh, 42, son of the late Peter Tosh, was found guilty late Monday of possessing a small amount of marijuana.

September 24th, 2009 PARIS - Internet search engine giant Google went on trial in Paris Thursday on charges of copyright infringement and forgery in its attempt to digitise millions of the world's books without prior authorisation. The trial was provoked in 2006 by the head of the publishing group La Martiniere, Herve de La Martiniere, who is now backed by the 530-member French Publisher's Association (SNE) and the Society of Authors (SGDL).

September 24th, 2009 Man claims Boston police beat him over photosBOSTON — A 29-year-old man is suing six Boston police officers, claiming they severely beat him because they were angry he was filming them with his cell phone. Michael O'Brien says in a federal lawsuit filed Thursday that he suffered a brain injury in the March 16 beating.

September 21st, 2009 Lawsuit against Coldplay over 'Viva La Vida' endsLOS ANGELES — Court records show guitarist Joe Satriani and Coldplay have reached an agreement that ends a copyright infringement lawsuit filed over the band's smash hit "Viva la Vida." Satriani sued Coldplay in December, claiming the band copied "substantial, original portions" of his 2004 song, "If I Could Fly." Coldplay won a Grammy Award earlier this year for "Viva La Vida." A federal judge in Los Angeles last week dismissed the case at the request of attorneys for both sides. No details about an agreement were included in court filings, other than each side would pay its own legal costs.

September 10th, 2009 Record companies sue 'Ellen' show over copyrightsNASHVILLE, Tenn. — Some of the world's largest recording companies are suing "The Ellen DeGeneres Show," claiming producers violated their copyrights by playing more than 1,000 songs without permission.

August 31st, 2009 Unit of Louis Vuitton wins lawsuitNEW YORK — Louis Vuitton Malletier SA, a unit of French luxury goods maker LVMH Moet Hennessy Louis Vuitton, said Monday that a federal jury in California awarded it $32.4 million in damages in a copyright infringement lawsuit against businesses that hosted Web sites selling counterfeit consumer products. Louis Vuitton Malletier filed the lawsuit in 2007, after finding a group of Web sites with the same Internet address selling what it believed was counterfeit Louis Vuitton merchandise.