Calvin Harris Lawsuit, Wu-Tang Case, Diddy Appeal, Lil Wayne Ruling & More Top Music Law News

THE BIG STORY: It sounds like music-biz Mad Libs: After a Bruno Mars co-writer sells his catalog, he tries to mitigate his tax liabilities by investing in a Hollywood real estate project, which later becomes a “boondoggle” at the heart of bombshell fraud claims filed by Calvin Harris. Got all that? We haven’t even mentioned Tiësto, who is also somehow involved.

That’s the wild story behind CMNTY Culture Campus, as unpacked by Billboard’s Rachel Scharf last week in a must-read deep dive – a fascinating look at how a now-bankrupt business manager to the stars and several of his clients got tangled up in a Los Angeles development scheme that so far has failed to get off the ground.

For the whole story, go read the full article here – and stay with Billboard for updates on messy dispute as it moves forward.

You’re reading The Legal Beat, a weekly newsletter about music law from Billboard Pro, offering you a one-stop cheat sheet of big new cases, important rulings and all the fun stuff in between. To get the newsletter in your inbox every Tuesday, go subscribe here.

Other top stories this week…

THA RULING – Lil Wayne scored a victory in a years-long legal battle with his former attorney Ron Sweeney, who claimed he was owed $20 million under a contingency fee arrangement that entitled him to 10% of Wayne’s profits. A judge rejected that claim, saying instead that Sweeney is only entitled to “reasonable fees” from Wayne – a figure that will be determined in future litigation. Though Wayne told Billboard he was “thankful” for the ruling, Sweeney said his case was “very much alive.”

WU-TANG WAR – Martin Shkreli asked a federal judge to force Wu-Tang Clan’s RZA to participate in a messy legal battle over the group’s one-of-a-kind album Once Upon a Time in Shaolin. If granted, the move would expand the lawsuit – from a more limited fight over whether Shkreli illegally retained copies of the rare album after he forfeited it to prosecutors, to a broader legal action over whether either Wu-Tang or Shkreli continue to own copyrights to the legendary record.

DIDDY APPEAL – Weeks after he was sent to prison for four years, Sean “Diddy” Combs formally launched his appeal of his convictions and sentence. Though he did not yet file detailed arguments, a major focus at the appellate court could be on so-called acquitted conduct – the tricky problem of sentencing someone, like Diddy, who was only convicted on some of his charges. Separately, the White House said there was “zero truth” to news reports that President Donald Trump was considering commuting the disgraced mogul’s sentence.

MAVERICK CITY MESS – Tony Brown, the co-founder of Maverick City Music, filed civil racketeering (RICO) claims against the Grammy-winning worship collective, alleging that CEO Norman Gyamfi threatened and coerced him into signing an unfavorable buyout deal in 2023. The new claims come on the heels of a bombshell fraud lawsuit brought against Maverick City Music by former member Chandler Moore that accuses Gyamfi of orchestrating secret deals and forging his signature to steal millions in royalties.

NU METAL, FAKE URL – Slipknot launched a lawsuit against an alleged cybersquatter that’s been using the web address slipknot.com to advertise counterfeit merchandise for more than two decades: “The domain name was registered in an effort to profit off of plaintiff’s goodwill and to trick unsuspecting visitors,” the band wrote, saying it had been forced to use the clunkier URL slipknot1.com.

MASTER V. COMPOSITION – A federal appeals court rejected a lawsuit that accused French Montana of illegally sampling on his 2013 hit “Ain’t Worried About Nothin’” – even though the court also said that the beats of the two tracks sounded “indistinguishable” to the “naked ear.” The ruling turned on the fact that accuser Eddie Lee Richardson owned only a copyright to his sound recording, and not the underlying musical composition.

TRIAL DELAY? Attorneys for former Oak View Group (OVG) chief executive Tim Leiweke asked to postpone his criminal trial from December to at least October 2026, arguing that his legal team needs additional time to review roughly seven million pages of evidence produced by federal prosecutors. Leiweke was indicted this summer on charges of conspiring to rig a bid for an Austin arena; the longtime live event exec has strongly denied the allegations.

PRISON DELAY? Music executive Ángel Del Villar asked a judge to let him stay out of prison while he appeals his felony convictions for doing business with a concert promoter linked to Mexican drug cartels, arguing that he’s “not a flight risk” and will likely win his appeal. If the request is denied, Del Villar is set to start his four-year prison sentence on Dec. 1.

MUSIC AT SCOTUS – The major record labels filed their main brief at the U.S. Supreme Court in their billion-dollar piracy lawsuit against Cox Communications, blasting the telecom giant for invoking “innocent grandmothers” in its appeal to the high court. Cox told the court this summer that the case could imperil internet access for millions, but the labels say such “breathless” claims are overblown.

TEMU HITS BACK – The fast-growing Chinese e-commerce site asked a judge to dismiss a lawsuit over counterfeit MF Doom merchandise filed earlier this year by the late hip-hop legend’s estate, arguing in a new court filing that it cannot be held responsible for the actions of independent sellers who use the site.

LIMO LIKENESS LAWSUIT – Post Malone and Tyla Yaweh were hit with a lawsuit from a limo driver named Larry Deuel who appeared in their 2020 music video for the song “Tommy Lee.” Deuel claimed the stars asked him to take part in the shoot and promised he’d be “taken care of” – and that he was owed a whopping $10 million in damages over their failure to do so.

NEVER HEARD IT – Anitta won a court ruling dismissing a lawsuit that claimed the Brazilian star stole key elements of her 2023 hit “Funk Rave” from an earlier track by two little-known songwriters. The judge ruled that Anitta likely never heard the earlier song – and that an alternative allegation her co-writer Diplo might have heard it was “speculative at best.”

“PUT UP OR SHUT UP” – Megan Thee Stallion’s lawyers urged a judge to dismiss a lawsuit by cameraman named Emilio Garcia who sued the rapper last year over allegations that he was forced to watch her have sex in a car during a European tour. After months of discovery, Megan’s lawyers say Garcia has found “no evidentiary support for his sensationalized and baseless claims” and that most of the case should be dismissed without a trial.

RADIO ROW – Maurice “The Voice” Watts, the longtime host of a Harlem R&B radio show called The Love Zone, filed a lawsuit against Amazon Studios and Paramount over claims after a fictional show of the same name was briefly mentioned in an episode of the Prime series Cross. Such a case faces long odds because the First Amendment usually allows for free use of trademarks and brand names in expressive works like TV shows and movies.

DAVID GEFFEN DIVORCE – The music and film mogul’s estranged husband Donovan Michaels dropped a civil lawsuit that leveled shocking abuse allegations against Geffen earlier this year. Michaels, a former exotic dancer who married the 82-year-old billionaire without a prenup in 2023, had sought “financial support commensurate with his lifestyle for the rest of his life.” The pair will continue to litigate their divorce in a separate case.

MINOR DISCORD – Broke Records was hit with a lawsuit from ATLXS, the 18-year-old Italian artist behind the hit dance track “Passo Bem Solto,” over allegations that the indie label has refused to release him from a distribution deal he signed as a minor. Broke, founded in 2023 in partnership with Create Music Group, has carved out a niche turning viral songs into streaming hits – precisely what happened with ATLXS’s track, which has more than 450 million Spotify streams across various remixes.