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NPR reports:

Spotify, the groundbreaking streaming music service, is facing a class-action lawsuit alleging that it violates the copyrights of thousands of independent musicians.

If the songwriters prevail it could cost Spotify tens of millions of dollars in unpaid royalties. And according to experts in the music industry, this may be only the beginning, because other streaming services reportedly commit the same violations.

The named plaintiff in the lawsuit, filed on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of California, is David Lowery, an outspoken musicians’ rights advocate and frontman of rock bands Camper Van Beethoven and Cracker. He says his songs have been streamed hundreds of thousands of times without his permission.

 

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Our business litigation firm has handled Illinois partnership disputes for many years. We have handled partnership disputes in a wide variety of different contexts from lawyer and doctor disputes to disputes by real-estate development partners.

We have handled TRO’s and preliminary injunction matters and dissolution of partnerships that have lasted over two decades.

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NPR reports:

But more than 50 labor, legal, medical and consumer organizations have told the government that’s not enough. They want these pre-dispute arbitration agreements banned entirely. Thirty-four U.S. senators and attorneys general from 15 states and the District of Columbia also have called for banning the agreements.

“No one should be forced to accept denial of justice as a price for the care their loved ones deserve,” says Henry Waxman, a former congressman from California. Arbitration agreements keep the neglect and abuse of nursing home residents secret, Waxman says, because the cases aren’t tried in open court and resolutions sometimes have gag rules.

“None of the systemic health and safety problems that cause the harm will ever see the light of day,” he says.

The proposed federal regulation would require nursing homes to explain these arbitration agreements so that residents or their families understand what they’re signing. It would also make sure that agreeing to arbitration is not a requirement for nursing home admission.

 

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As useful as cars are, they can also be extremely dangerous when mishandled. The government takes measures to improve safety by installing traffic lights and road signs and requiring drivers to complete training and pass multiple tests before they’re permitted take a car out on the road on their own. But what about when the car malfunctions?

Losing control of your vehicle is one of the most frightening things that can happen to a driver, but according to a recent proposed class action consumer lawsuit against GM, an alleged defect in some of the cars they make causes just that.

The class action consumer lawsuit was filed by Briana M., the owner of a Chevy Cruze. Briana alleges a defect in the electronic power steering system causes the steering wheel to lock into the straight position when the car has been traveling in one direction for an extended period of time, for example, when driving on a highway. Continue reading ›

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Large companies sometimes try to look for ways of getting around the laws that protect their employees by requiring their workers to sign contracts in which they agree to forfeit certain rights guaranteed them by law.

Flowers Foods, Inc. is one of the leading producers and marketers of packaged bakery foods in the U.S. Until recently, the company maintained a distribution model in which its distributors were classified as independent contractors.

Independent contractors are self-employed workers who run their own businesses. They are not subject to any of the protections under the federal Fair Labor Standards Act (FLSA), including minimum wage and overtime regulations. Because the FLSA does not extend its protections to independent contractors, it is very specific about the requirements workers must meet in order to be considered independent contractors. Continue reading ›

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Millions of car owners use motor oil to keep their engines running smoothly, but buying the wrong oil can do more harm than good.

To many consumers, one brand of motor oil is much like any other brand. But according to a recent consumer class action lawsuit against Dollar General, the discount retailer has been taking advantage of this assumption by selling their own brand of motor oil at a much lower cost than other brands, but there’s a catch.

The fine print on the back of the bottle says the oil is not intended for use in cars made after 1988. Dollar General’s oil is marked as 10W-30 and stored on shelves right next to oil meant for newer vehicles, so many consumers assume there’s no real difference, other than the price. Because Dollar General’s brand is considerably cheaper, many consumers buy it thinking they can use the motor oil in any car, but that’s not actually the case.

Joe Wood, a plaintiff in one of the consumer lawsuits against Dollar General, says his car died after he started using Dollar General’s brand of motor oil.

Tom Glenn, the president of the Petroleum Quality Institute of America, said that he considers Dollar General’s motor oil to be obsolete, because it should only be used on cars 28 years or older. The class action consumer lawsuit likewise called the motor oil obsolete, but Dollar General objected to the use of that word, saying their oil can be used in the millions of cars that were made prior to 1988 that are still on the road. Continue reading ›

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Technology has been advancing so quickly in just the past few years that the law is still struggling to keep up, but the law is successfully keeping pace, at least in some areas.

Dr. Rosalind Griffin recently demonstrated what appears to be a lack of understanding of both defamation law and how the Internet works when she filed an ethics complaint against an attorney, Steven Gursten, for allegedly writing defamatory statements about her on his blog. She demanded that the ethics commission intercede and force Gursten to remove his blog post even though she didn’t file a slander suit and would never likely be able to obtain such a prior restraint on speech through a court action.  Griffin instead opted to use an ethics charge to block speech.

Gursten wrote that Dr. Griffin had testified in court that his client had told her things that directly contradicted what Gursten’s client said in Dr. Griffin’s recorded medical examination. The blog post Gursten wrote according to Dr. Griffin implied Dr. Griffin’s conduct constituted perjury and a serious abuse of her position as an insurance medical examiner. Continue reading ›

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As Earth’s population continues to increase, sometimes it seems like our world is getting smaller as technological advances manage to give the appearance that people thousands of miles away are right in front of you. Shortly after the birth of the Internet, single people started using it to find other single people with similar interests. Numerous sites have been created that match people up based on geography, interests, and various preferences expressed by each member.

One such popular dating site, called It’s Just Lunch International Inc., encourages single people to meet other single people in their area for lunch, but users of the site sued the company for allegedly ignoring their dating preferences when matching people up with other singles.

The lawsuit was filed by nine plaintiffs in 2007 who combined their claims and sought to represent a total of more than 250 singles. They alleged the dating service overcharged its customers for matchmaking services that claimed to be personalized, while simultaneously ignoring preferences clearly stated by the user, including age and criminal background. Instead, the lawsuit alleged the matches made by the dating site were motivated by monthly quota requirements, even when those requirements allegedly disregarded aspects of a partner plaintiffs had clearly requested. Continue reading ›

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It is common practice for companies selling a variety of products and services to enlist the help of a public figure in promoting their brand. This type of advertising can be especially effective with beauty products, fragrances, and food and beverages, but a celebrity endorsement is a partnership. In exchange for allowing the company to use their name and/or likeness, the celebrity usually receives a cut of the profits, whether that’s in the form of royalties, shares in the company, or just a straight endorsement payment.

But Venus Legacy allegedly did not provide Sofia Vergara with payment in any form, or even obtain her permission before using pictures of her in their advertising.

Vergara initially posted a selfie on Instagram of herself getting a Venus Legacy massage in 2014. Vergara said in her complaint that, at the end of the day, she didn’t like the treatment and it didn’t give her the results she wanted. She further stated she would not use the service again and would never endorse it.

Despite these statements, Vergara’s selfie allegedly appeared on an “Extra” TV segment, along with other photos of Vergara that made it look as though she was endorsing the treatment Venus Legacy offers. These photos allegedly appeared on everything from Venus’s Facebook page to the Lavoro Laser website and Beauty Fix Medspa’s profile page on Twitter. Continue reading ›

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Covenants not to compete, also known as non-compete agreements, are often used by businesses to prevent their employees from leaving the company and then using the knowledge they gained to compete with the employer within the same geographic territory. Such agreements are usually signed by an employee upon accepting employment, and are often intended to protect trade secrets or prevent pilfering of a business’s clients by former employees. They usually restrict a former employee from operating the same type of business or working within the same industry, within a defined territory, for a finite amount of time, which can be anywhere from one to three years.

Illinois, like most states, enforces covenants not to compete in employment agreements as long as they meet certain requirements. First, there must be some consideration, or promise, offered by the employer to the employee in return for agreeing to refrain from competing upon termination of employment. Typically, the employment itself is considered adequate consideration but only after the employee works for the employer for two years after signing the agreement.  The employer can also pay reasonable compensation such a bonus when the employee signs the agreement. The agreement also must be reasonable in scope. The Illinois Supreme Court has established a rule that attempts to balance the interests and rights of the employer with those of the former employee while also considering the impact on the public. Continue reading ›

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