Prince Estate Lawsuit, Missy Elliott Settlement, Lil Nas X Charges, YNW Melly Case & More Music Law

THE BIG STORY: The Prince estate is facing yet another legal battle – only this time not from his heirs, but from a co-star in his 1984 film Purple Rain.

After the music legend died of a fentanyl overdose in 2016 without a written will, his affairs spent more than six years in probate court, as heirs, advisors and others battled over how the valuable estate would be managed in the future. Even after that case wrapped up, another battle erupted between allegedly “disgruntled” heirs and a pair of managers.

Now, the estate is facing a new fight over trademark law from the singer and actress Apollonia, a Prince protegee who rose to fame playing a character of the same name in Purple Rain and has since used the moniker for years in her own career.

In a lawsuit filed last week, Apollonia (Patty Kotero) said Prince himself never had an issue with her using the name, but that his estate is now trying to use legal means to “steal” the name “even though it has no legal right to do so.”

For its part, the Prince estate said that it never meant to cause her any sorrow. In a post to social media, the estate responded that it had “never instructed her to cease using her adopted professional name” and merely wanted to “preserve Prince’s assets and legacy” by cancelling Apollonia’s own trademarks over a name that came from a Prince movie.

DEEP DIVE: After YNW Melly’s double murder trial was postponed until January 2027 – roughly eight years from when he was first arrested – I dove deep into how we got here. Experts told me it was partly the unique factors of the case, including a mistrial and a long death penalty appeal, but that an eight-year wait for a verdict is less unusual than you might think: “Our system tolerates a great deal of punishment before trial and without trial.”

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Other top stories this week…

FELONY CHARGES – Lil Nas X was charged with four felonies over accusations that he attacked police officers and resisted arrest last week during a bizarre incident in which he was filmed wandering naked in Los Angeles. At an arraignment hearing, the “Old Town Road” rapper pleaded not guilty to three counts of battery with injury on a police officer and one count of resisting executive officer over the alleged incident – charges that could carry years in prison.

LAST-MINUTE DEAL – Missy Elliott reached a settlement to avoid a jury trial and end a long legal battle with Terry Williams, a music producer who claimed that he and Elliott collaborated on numerous songs in the 1990s but that she refused to credit him as a co-writer. Terms of the agreement were not disclosed in court docs, but Elliott’s lawyer shared key details with Billboard.

SAMPLE SNAFU – Rauw Alejandro was hit with a lawsuit accusing him of sampling multiple tracks by reggaeton legend DJ Playero on his hit 2022 album Saturno without proper licenses. In a statement to Billboard, Alejandro said he “believed these songs were cleared properly by my previous label, but it seems the person who claimed the rights might not have actually controlled them.”

RADIO RATES – ASCAP and BMI both reached settlements with the Radio Music License Committee to resolve long-running lawsuits over the licensing rates paid by thousands of radio stations to songwriters and publishers. The details of BMI’s deal, which it called a “historic” win for songwriters, were publicly filed in federal court; the terms of ASCAP’s agreement were not revealed.

IDOL KILLINGS – Raymond Boodarian, the man accused of killing longtime American Idol music supervisor Robin Kaye and her husband last month, appeared in court for his initial hearing on murder and burglary charges. But a Los Angeles judge suspended the prosecution after the accused killer was repeatedly unresponsive in court, instead ordering a mental health review to determine whether he’s competent enough to face criminal charges.

DISMISSAL EXPLAINED – A federal judge issued a detailed ruling explaining why he sided with Sean “Diddy” Combs and dismissed a $60 million civil sexual assault lawsuit filed by Making the Band 2 contestant Sara Rivers. The lengthy ruling said the case – claiming sexual harassment and groping during the filming of the 2000s MTV reality show – was clearly filed years after the statutes of limitations had expired.

DIDDY THE DIRECTOR – Elsewhere in Diddy world, federal prosecutors urged a judge to reject the rapper’s bid to overturn his criminal prostitution convictions ahead of sentencing, including his argument that “freak-offs” were just “amateur pornography” protected by free speech: “The defendant was anything but a producer of adult films entitled to First Amendment protection — rather, he was a voracious consumer of commercial sex.”

TYLER TRIAL DELAYED – A judge postponed a jury trial in a lawsuit accusing Aerosmith singer Steven Tyler of sexually assaulting a minor in the 1970s. Lawyers for plaintiff Julia Misley, who claims Tyler “groomed” and “manipulated” her as a teenager decades ago, sought the continuance over “unavoidable delays” in preparing for trial; Tyler’s lawyers objected, saying he wanted his “day in court” rather than have the case “continue to drag on.”

MIAMI CLUB BULLIES? – Dance music company Insomniac Events filed a lawsuit against three Miami club operators that it claims are trying to “bully” their way into total control of two of the city’s dance venues, including the city’s famed Club Space and an upstart club called Factory Town.

YOUNG DOLPH ACQUITTAL – A man accused of organizing the hit that killed rapper Young Dolph in 2021 was found not guilty on first-degree murder and murder conspiracy charges over accusations that he hired two men to fatally shoot the rapper at a bakery in Memphis. One shooter was convicted last year and sentenced to life in prison; the other is cooperating with prosecutors of a lenient punishment.

SUPERTRAMP DECISION – A federal appeals court ruled that former Supertramp lead singer Roger Hodgson needs to share royalties from the 1970s rock band’s hit catalog with his fellow band members. “Plaintiffs ask that defendants continue to ‘Give A Little Bit,’ the judge wrote. “Defendants believe that ‘From Now On,’ they are no longer obligated to share royalties.”