Beatles company win in copyright battle over Shea Stadium concert footage
A New York court has dismissed the legal action being pursued by Sid Bernstein Presents against Beatles company Apple Corps. The former sued the latter over who owns the copyright in footage of the band's famous 1965 concert at the city's Shea Stadium.

As previously reported, this dispute came off the back of the recent documentary film 'The Beatles: Eight Days A Week' which featured 30 minutes of footage of the 1965 show. Sid Bernstein Presents argued that it owned the rights in that footage because the company's late founder - concert promoter Sid Bernstein - had instigated the concert and paid for the show to take place.

Apple Corps countered that the actual recording of the gig had been undertaken by Ed Sullivan's Sullivan Productions and NEMS Enterprises, the company of Beatles manager Brian Epstein. The rights in the footage, it added, had then subsequently been acquired by Apple Corps and its sister company Subafilms.

When applying to the courts last year to have the case launched by Sid Bernstein Presents dismissed, Apple Corps dubbed the litigation "frivolous" and also noted that Bernstein himself never claimed to have ownership of the Shea Stadium footage in the nearly fifty years that lapsed between the show and his death in 2013.

According to Reuters, in siding with Apple Corp earlier this week, judge George Daniels wrote: "The relevant legal question is not the extent to which Bernstein contributed to or financed the 1965 concert; rather, it is the extent to which he 'provided the impetus for' and invested in a copyrightable work - eg the concert film. The complaint and relevant contracts clearly refute any such claim by Bernstein".

To that end, Daniels granted the Beatles company its motion to have the case against it dismissed. Though it's thought Sid Bernstein Presents could as yet appeal.

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Madonna wins damages over MailOnline story about her adopted daughters
Madonna has accepted undisclosed damages from Daily Mail owner Associated Newspapers over a report on the two young sisters the singer adopted earlier this year.

Twin sisters Stella and Estere brought the number of Malawian children adopted by Madonna to four. The popstar objected to a MailOnline report from January, before the adoption of the two four year olds had been completed, which revealed their names, race and age.

This, Madonna argued, was a "serious invasion of privacy" that caused her "considerable personal distress", and which could have jeopardised both the adoption process and the two children's safety.

The singer took the matter to the High Court in London on the basis her privacy rights had been breached by the newspaper. According to the BBC, her legal rep told the court: "MailOnline published [its story] at a time when, as the journalist ought to have appreciated, Madonna would be powerless to protect the girls from harm".

Lawyer Jenny Afia added: "Their actions could, in her view, have threatened the integrity and/or outcome of the adoption process which would have had potentially life-changing implications for the girls, as well as for Madonna and her family. In the circumstances, Madonna believes that it would - and should - have been self-evident to the reporter that the protection of the girls' identities pending the decision about their potential adoption was likely to be vital for their safety and welfare".

After the court hearing, Afia told reporters: "Madonna brought this litigation because the newspaper threatened her girls' safety by naming them before they were adopted. She will always take all possible steps to protect her family's well-being".

The lawyer then confirmed that Associated Newspaper had agreed to settle, adding that the damages her client was now set to receive would be donated to a newly opened children's hospital in Malawi.

Meanwhile, a MailOnline spokesperson was quoted by the Press Association as saying: "We had no intention whatsoever of exposing the girls to any harm and no reason to believe that they were in fact exposed to harm".

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WSTRN's Akelle Charles sentenced to four years in prison
Singer Akelle Charles, a member of R&B trio WSTRN, has been jailed for four years after being convicted of violent disorder.

Charles and his brother Naeem Phillip-Charles were accused of being part of a group of five men who stormed a flat in West London in January last year, attacking the occupants. Police believe the attack was related to a street robbery that had taken place earlier the same day. However, the 40 year old man and 60 year old woman in the flat had no connection to this incident.

Both brothers were found guilty of violent disorder, though were acquitted of aggravated burglary and possession of a firearm with intent to cause fear of violence. Charles was sentenced to four years in prison, and his brother three and a half years. The other three men involved in the attack have never been identified.

In a statement, Detective Constable Christopher McShane, from the Metropolitan Police's Trident and Area Crime Command, said: "This was a shocking ordeal for the two innocent victims, one of whom is a grandmother and who was punched in the face. I am pleased that both men will now have to reflect on their actions in prison".

WSTRN have not commented on the conviction. Their latest single, 'Txtin', was released last week.

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Sony/ATV partners with social media-powered record label Heard Well
Sony/ATV has announced a new music publishing partnership with social media powered label Heard Well.

Heard Well bills itself as "the first music label entirely powered by social tastemakers and their communities". It basically gets 'social media influencers' to put together playlists. Then it releases those playlists as compilation albums. No, I'm not sure it's quite as innovative as they make out either.

Anyway, this new deal will see Sony/ATV work with those playlist makers to identify acts to sign up to publishing deals. Which kind of sounds like the publisher is outsourcing its A&R. Some of the 'influencers' that Heard Well already works with are YouTubers Tyler Oakley, JC Caylen and The Dolan Twins, and Olympic gymnast Gabby Douglas.

Sony/ATV's US co-President Danny Strick says: "We're excited to be working with Heard Well whose ground-breaking approach to music discovery in the world of social media is uncovering and promoting great new artists even before the usual research stage. With the launch of this A&R partnership we are looking forward to discovering some amazing new talent with them".

Heard Well co-founder Connor Franta adds: "I am absolutely beside myself with how far Heard Well has come in just two years. From the compilations to the radio station to publishing, I'm THRILLED to see what Heard Well will tackle next. For now, we're diving deep into the search for our first artist project and can't wait to shed that spotlight sooner than you think".

Heard Well already has an alliance with the Sony Music record company, having signed up to the label's Red distribution business in March last year - and it now works with the consolidated Orchard.

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Final Gregg Allman album to be released in September
Rounder Recorders has announced that it will release the final Gregg Allman album, 'Southern Blood', on 8 Sep. The record was completed shortly before the musician's death in May.

"As his producer, I was dedicated to helping Gregg crystallise his vision for the record and to help make sure that this vision made it to the tape", says the album's producer Don Was. "He was a musical hero of mine and, in later years, had become a good friend. The gravitas of this particular situation was not lost on me. Gregg was a sweet, humble man with a good heart and good intentions and it was a great honour to help him put his musical affairs in order and say a proper farewell".

Recorded at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, where Allman's brother Duane first began building his career, the album sees him perform songs by friends and some of his favourite artists, including Bob Dylan, Tim Buckley, Jackson Browne, Willie Dixon, Jerry Garcia Lowell George and Spooner Oldham.

Allman's manager Michael Lehman says: "A constant discussion during all of my nearly fifteen years working with Gregg was his desire to return to Muscle Shoals. He always would talk about how he needed to get back to Fame Studios to bring him full circle".

Here's a brief clip from a behind-the-scenes documentary that will feature on the deluxe release of the album. And here's the record's opening song, 'My Only True Friend', written by Allman himself.

The full tracklist is as follows:

1. My Only True Friend (Gregg Allman and Scott Sharrard)
2. Once I Was (Tim Buckley and Larry Beckett)
3. Going Going Gone (Bob Dylan)
4. Black Muddy River (Jerry Garcia and Robert Hunter)
5. I Love The Life I Live (Willie Dixon)
6. Willin' (Lowell George)
7. Blind Bats And Swamp Rats (Jack Avery)
8. Out Of Left Field (Spooner Oldham and Dan Penn)
9. Love Like Kerosene (Scot Sharrard)
10. Song For Adam (Jackson Browne)

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Hamilton Leithauser covers Shaun MacGowan for anti-Islamophobia compilation
Former Walkmen vocalist Hamilton Leithauser has released his contribution to an upcoming anti-Islamophobia compilation, 'Philia: Artists Rise Against Islamophobia'.

Leithauser has recorded a cover of Shaun MacGowan's 'Song With No Name', and tells Consequence Of Sound of his desire to get involved: "With so many real problems in the world, it is disheartening that the President of the United States continues to preach base xenophobia, dim-witted anger and hate. His signature accomplishment thus far is the amplification of irrational fear and prejudice".

The album is due for release on 19 Aug. Listen to Leithauser's version of 'Song With No Name' here.

Here's the full tracklist:

1. Mac DeMarco - Don Juan
2. Drop Electric - Aisha And The Knife
3. Heems - Blades
4. Hamilton Leithauser - Song With No Name (Shane MacGowan And The Popes cover)
5. Khruangbin - Ma Be Ham Nemiresim (Googoosh cover)
6. Fruit Bats - Salamander
7. Small Leaks Sink Ships - Sympathetic Resonance
8. Emel Mathlouthi - Insanity
9. The Dodos - Mirror Fake
10. Vetiver - Lumiere
11. John Vanderslice - Karma Police (Radiohead cover)

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Mercury Prize shortlist sticks to classic listing format
The Mercury Prize shortlist for 2017 has been announced. You probably know that already. But what a list it is! Lovely formatting, bullet points and everything. Can't fault it on its adherence to the rules of listing things. If I had to nit-pick, it would only be that some of the names on it are wrong. Otherwise, great job guys!

Commenting on the handiwork, the judging panel harmonised this statement: "This year's Hyundai Mercury Prize shortlist celebrates the remarkable power of British music. What these artists have in common is an infectious pleasure in music making and an arresting sense of urgency about the music they make. They delight in exploring musical possibilities and refusing to be pinned down by genre conventions".

They're being all coy about the actual formatting of the list. No need to be modest, judges! The formatting really is impeccable. Let's take a look:

• Alt-J - Relaxer
• Blossoms - Blossoms
• Dinosaur - Together, As One
• Ed Sheeran - Divide
• Glass Animals - How To Be A Human Being
• J Hus - Common Sense
• Kate Tempest - Let Them Eat Chaos
• Loyle Carner - Yesterday's Gone
• Sampha - Process
• Stormzy - Gang Signs & Prayer
• The Big Moon - Love In The Fourth Dimension
• The xx - I See You

Alphabetised by artist name too. Just wonderful. If there was a prize for formatting lists, I reckon this would win it. Simple and to the point. Love it. Great job.

As is tradition, the list will be edited further by controversially cutting it down to just one bullet at the Hammersmith Apollo on 14 Sep.

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Vevo, Kesha, Mick Jagger, more

Other notable announcements and developments today...

• Vevo has promoted Claudia De Wolff to the role of Vice President, Creative Content And Programming. Her new boss Tom Connaughton reckons that she is "the right person" to do the job, which is handy.

• Kesha has released another new song, 'Learn To Let Go'.

• Mick Jagger collaborated with Skepta and the results were... passable. Here's 'England Lost'.

• Tori Amos has announced that she will release new album, 'Native Invaders', on 8 Sep. From it, this is 'Cloud Raiders'. She'll also play three UK shows this autumn, starting with London's Royal Albert Hall on 4 Oct.

• Major Lazer have released an interactive video for new single 'Know No Better', featuring Travis Scott, Camila Cabello and Quavo.

• Steve Aoki has released the video for 'Night Call', featuring Lil Yachty and Migos, from his latest album 'Kolony'.

• Belle & Sebastian have released new single 'We Were Beautiful'.

• Myrkur has released the second single from her upcoming second album 'Mareridt', which is out in September. This is 'Ulvinde'.

• Sleep Party People have released new song 'Fainting Spell', and also announced that they will play The Lexington in London on 27 Nov.

• Katy Perry is hosting this year's MTV VMAs in August. So now you know.

• Check out our weekly Spotify playlist of new music featured in the CMU Daily - updated every Friday.

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Beef Of The Week #365: Arcade Fire v Arcade Fire
In the 24 hour, on-demand, me-first culture of the modern world, in order to stand out a band needs a sustained gimmick. Arcade Fire's gimmick has been to point out that this is the case. Over and over again. For weeks. With their new album, 'Everything Now', officially out today, this brings to an end (hopefully) a gruelling promotional campaign.

The conceit was this: The band signed a '360° agreement' with fictional company Everything Now Corp. The made-up company adopted an aggressive marketing strategy, which saw it push the band into everything from giving away promotional cigarettes to entering a brand partnership with Ben & Jerry's, resulting in a new Arcade Fire-themed ice cream flavour 'My Body Is A Cone'.

In June, a fall out between the band and the company was staged, suggesting that Arcade Fire had been unwilling to engage with the campaign. "Everything Now Corp doesn't want to work with a band that's content to be the ninth biggest in the world (current rankings)", said a statement. "We want to work with those who strive to be number one, and who will do what it takes to get there".

That was five weeks ago, and the whole charade has been no less exhausting since then. In part, the problem is that the band seem keen to skewer every part of modern culture they can think of via their spoof marketing campaign marketing campaign. And they can think of a lot.

A significant part of this was publishing various bits of 'fake news', from an article on Win Butler's exercise regime, to claims about the band's links to extremist groups, another purporting that Terry Gilliam had been making a massively over-budget music video for the band since 2005, and another revealing that they had launched a number of lawsuits claiming ownership of the 'Millennial Whoop'.

Then last week, they published an article on a site designed to look like Stereogum, called Stereoyum, mocking the music blog's 'Premature Evaluation' feature, in which it publishes early reviews of new albums. Titling their feature 'Premature Premature Evaluation', the band predicted what the real site might say when they actually came to review the record. Stereogum responded by posting a review roughly confirming those predictions.

To say this joke has been laboured is an understatement. Particularly as the pay off doesn't match the effort that's gone into the set up. For the most part, the punchline is basically 'we are pretending to do a thing that already happens for real' without offering any real comment on it, humorous or otherwise.

This week, it all reached a strange climax, when a statement was published claiming that there would be a strict dress code for Arcade Fire's album launch show in Brooklyn tonight. Ticketholders were emailed and told that they would have to arrive looking "hip and trendy", with a long list of clothing items that would not be tolerated.

"Our dress code is HIP & TRENDY as if you are going to a concert or night out with friends", said the email. "The event is standing-room-only so please plan accordingly. PLEASE DO NOT WEAR shorts, large logos, flip flops, tank tops, crop tops, baseball hats, solid white or red clothing. We reserve the right to deny entry to anyone dressed inappropriately".

News of the dress code was reported (largely negatively) around the internet, only to be followed by a statement from the band saying that it wasn't true and that fans could "wear whatever you want to any show".

Win Butler replied to a tweet by Brooklyn Vegan directing readers to its report on the dress code by saying, "Hi. Not sure who drafted this email, but it 100% did not come from the band in any form. Not that it matters! Enjoy the clicks".

At this point, it's hard to know what the band were even lampooning. Was it the media for reporting on things that appear in apparently official announcements? Or people who make sure they look good for their Instagram selfie at every social event? Or were they mocking themselves, having previously announced and retracted a live show dress code back in 2014 when they weren't in prankster mode?

The album launch email also announced that fans would have to lock their phones in a secure pouch before the performance, in order to stop them taking Instagram selfies or filming the show. Though this seems like such a thing that Arcade Fire would do, I'm still not entirely sure if that was part of the joke or not.

Who has time to even think about all this, when Everything Now Corp has already capitalised on the controversy of #dresscodegate by launching a competition asking fans to tweet photos of themselves in their least trendy outfits?

Over time, this whole promotional campaign will become a distant memory as it gets buried under the weight of the internet. Maybe that's the point. Ultimately, of course, it will be the album that lives on. But at the end of this arduous campaign, who could really be enthused about listening to a collection of songs that explore the same themes?

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