Eminem suit against Apple, MTV a go
DETROIT (AP) -- A federal judge says rapper Eminem's copyright infringement claims over use of his song "Lose Yourself" in a commercial for Apple Computer Inc. can go forward.
Apple featured a 10-year-old boy singing the Oscar-winning theme song to the rapper's movie "8 Mile" in an ad on MTV for the computer company's iPod music player and iTunes music service.
On Monday, U.S. District Judge Anna Diggs Taylor ruled that the suit brought by Eminem's publishing company can proceed against several companies, including MTV parent company Viacom and advertising agency TBWA/Chiat/Day.
Taylor threw out two state law-based claims of unfair competition and unjust enrichment.
The television ad appeared many times during three months beginning in July 2003 and on Apple's Web site, despite the fact that the computer company had unsuccessfully sought Eminem's permission for the campaign.
Herschel Fink, a Detroit lawyer for the defendants, said no viewer would think Eminem was endorsing the iTunes service.
Eminem's lawyers say he has never nationally endorsed any product.
PACKING IT IN
Detective Lennie Briscoe turns in his badge on tonight's "Law & Order" after 12 years - but both he and the only man who's played him, Jerry Orbach, will return for the new "L&O" spinoff kicking off next season.
"It was a mutual thing," Orbach told The New York Post about his decision to leave "L&O," the show on which he's been a constant through hundreds of episodes - and many cast changes.
"Dick Wolf had the spinoff coming and it looked like the perfect opportunity to do one or two days a week rather than all eight days of the [shooting] schedule," said Orbach, 68.
"It's sort of like a golden parachute - as far as the real cops go, they would've retired me years ago."
Orbach will appear regularly on the new show, "Law & Order: Trial By Jury," scheduled to kick off later next season.
"Briscoe is now retired and is working for the DAs office as an investigator. It's just another venue for Lennie," Orbach said. "This show will have DAs, defense lawyers and judges who will revolve, so that I and a partner will be regulars and they can get a big star, like Helen Mirren, to do an episode.
"It could be very interesting."
Orbach said it was "very emotional" filming tonight's episode, after walking the "L&O" beat as Briscoe since 1992.
"I've been doing this an awfully long time; it's been 12 years with that group of people. You see the cast and crew more than you see your own family," he said. "You live with those people. They've become like a real family. It's a real lovefest."
Orbach will be replaced on "Law & Order" by Dennis Farina, an ex-Chicago cop known for his tough-guy cop roles in "Crime Story" and "Buddy Faro."
Orbach said this will, most likely, be his last regular series work.
"I used to say when I was working in the theater that if I ever had five seasons of a hit TV show I'd never have to worry about money and wouldn't have to do anything I didn't want to do," he said.
"The 12 seasons on 'Law & Order' really made that possible. It was a wonderful break for me at that stage of my career."
And the legacy of Briscoe?
"What the New York cops say - 'Keep making us look good,' " Orbach said.
CD Prices on the Rise Again
Universal promised $12.98 CDs. So why is D12 almost $20?
Last fall, music giant Universal announced a sweeping plan to cut the price of new records by thirty percent -- with some CDs selling for just $12.98. But anyone checking out racks at a music store will see recent releases from Universal artists such as D12, Hoobastank and Kanye West still selling for $14.99 to $18.98.
In April, Universal officially raised its suggested retail prices by one dollar. The company thought its gamble of charging less would spark massive sales. It didn't. The price cuts only hurt profitability. "We didn't get the increased sales we needed," says Jim Urie, president of Universal Music and Video Distribution. But he points out that Universal still offers the lowest prices among the major labels.
Universal's effort has also been thwarted by some retailers. Physically repricing millions of records at many chains is a time-consuming process. And many indie retailers had refused to go along with the plan, since it eliminated some advertising dollars that Universal had offered in exchange for premium placement. Sources say roughly half of music stores have adopted the price cuts.
While the albums topping the charts aren't yet a bargain, the back catalog of CDs that have been out for longer than eighteen months have helped overall prices inch down. At this time last year, the average full-length CD sold for $13.79; today, it's $13.29, according to marketing-information firm NPD MusicWatch. In early May, Warner Music announced a new plan to market some old titles for $9.98 to $11.98, including artists such as Madonna, Missy Elliott and Prince. For music shoppers looking for deals, the oldies are the only place to go.
Despite the imperative of making CD prices compete with free music on the Net and other entertainment options such as DVDs and video games, many retailers and labels have resisted the chance to cut prices. Right now, retailers, who are benefiting from a nine percent climb in music sales so far this year, have little incentive to drop prices on the best sellers. "If you have a hot new release like Usher, people are going to pay $18.99," says Clark Benson, CEO of the market-research firm Almighty Institute of Music Retail.
But big retailers such as Best Buy and Wal-Mart continue to gain market share by selling records for less than $10. "We continue to hear from consumers that CDs are too expensive," says Gary Arnold, senior vice president of entertainment at Best Buy. "The music industry needs to think with consumer glasses on."
Rival labels are not only hesitant to cut prices but may even be raising them. News reports have suggested that some labels want to boost the price of singles from ninety-nine cents to $1.25 at Apple's iTunes Music Store, though Apple denies it. But prices for some albums have climbed at iTunes, going beyond the usual $9.99 price per CD -- N.E.R.D.'s Fly or Die and Pink Floyd's The Dark Side of the Moon now sell for $13.99 and $14.99, respectively. Apple CEO Steve Jobs says labels could make more money selling full albums for $9.99 than one or two choice cuts for ninety-nine cents each. "We see prices of albums coming down and not going up," says Jobs.
Unreleased Cuts Bolster Simon Boxed Set
As first reported here last week, Warner Bros. will on June 29 release the nine-disc Paul Simon boxed set "The Studio Recordings 1972-2000." The set comprises the six albums the artist has recorded for Warner Bros. plus his first three post-Simon & Garfunkel solo releases, originally issued by Columbia. All nine albums have been digitally remastered and expanded with previously unreleased bonus cuts.
Simon's 1972 self-titled solo debut is bolstered with demos of "Duncan" and "Me and Julio Down by the Schoolyard" recorded in February 1971 in San Francisco, plus a previously unreleased version of "Paranoia Blues." His 1973 sophomore set "There Goes Rhymin' Simon" will now include acoustic demos of "Take Me to the Mardi Gras" and "Loves Me Like a Rock," an unfinished run through "American Tune" and a work-in-progress rendition of "Let Me Live in Your City."
Simon hit an artistic peak on 1975's "Still Crazy After All These Years," which reached No. 1 on The Billboard 200 and won the Grammy for album of the year. Bonus tracks on its new edition are demos of the No. 5 pop hit "Slip Slidin' Away" and "Gone at Last" with the Jessy Dixon Singers and the track "Silent Eyes" from the film "Shampoo."
The artist then took a nearly five-year break and signed a new deal with Warner Bros. for the 1980 release of the soundtrack to his film "One Trick Pony." Four previously unreleased cuts enrich the new version: "Soft Parachutes," "All Because of You," "Stranded in a Limousine" and "Spiral Highway."
At No. 35, Simon's 1983 album "Hearts and Bones" notched the lowest album chart ranking of his solo career, but has endured as a fan favorite in the years since. Bonus cuts include acoustic demos of the John Lennon elegy "The Late Great Johnny Ace," "Rene and Georgette Magritte With Their Dog After the War" and "Train in the Distance," plus the previously unreleased work-in-progress track "Shelter of Your Arms."
Simon roared back into the mainstream with 1986's South African-inspired "Graceland," which has been certified for U.S. shipments of 5 million copies by the Recording Industry Association of America. The set, which won Simon his second Grammy for album of the year, is bolstered by a demo of "Homeless," an unreleased version of "Diamonds on the Soles of Her Shoes" and an early take on "All Around the World or the Myth of Fingerprints."
Continuing Simon's world-music dabbling, 1990's "The Rhythm of the Saints" has been expanded to include the outtake "Thelma," an acoustic demo of "Born at the Right Time" and work-in-progress versions of "The Coast" and "Spirit Voices."
Another extended break from the studio followed before the 1997 release of "Songs From the Capeman," Simon's short-lived Broadway musical. The album will now feature a demo of "Born in Puerto Rico" featuring Jose Feliciano, the demo for "Can I Forgive Him" and the unreleased "Shoplifting Clothes."
The set is rounded out by Simon's latest solo release, 2000's "You're the One," which will include live renditions of "Old," opener "That's Where I Belong" and "Hurricane Eye."
As previously reported, Simon & Garfunkel's Old Friends trek will return to the road June 10 in Albany, N.Y.
INTERESTING DEVELOPMENT
Fox giving a surprise renewal to the critically lauded but woefully low-rated Jason Bateman sitcom Arrested Development, Variety reports. The network, which announces its full schedule on Thursday, also reupped the Eliza Dushku drama Tru Calling.
"Alias" Falls Off ABC Schedule
Two editions of the series Extreme Makeover seem especially appropriate for ABC's fall 2004-05 schedule, since the beleaguered network's lineup is undergoing quite an overhaul itself.
The most surprising move in new ABC Primetime Entertainment President Stephen McPherson's fall schedule, which was unveiled Monday at the New Amsterdam Theater in New York during the network's annual upfront presentation: no Alias. The butt-kickin' spy drama starring Jennifer Garner will instead stay off the air until January, when its fourth season will unspool, sans reruns.
In Alias' Sunday night time slot this fall: Desperate Housewives, a soapy drama about a suburban wife (Twin Peaks' Sheryl Lee) who kills herself, but continues to watch over the Knots Landing-ish shenanigans of her cul-de-sac neighbors. Melrose Place and General Hospital writer Charles Pratt Jr. produces the show, which also stars former Melrose baddie Marcia Cross, Lois & Clark's Teri Hatcher, Sports Night's Felicity Huffman and Eva Longoria (Dragnet and The Young and the Restless).
Housewives is part of the network's bigger strategy to depend on drama series to revive its place in the network wars. Overall, ABC will add seven new dramas to its schedule--three at midseason--plus two new comedies and two new reality series.
"Every night we ask tens of millions of Americans to invite us into their homes, and it's our responsibility to give them a reason to let us stay. I believe these programs, and this schedule, does just that," said the sound bite-ready McPherson.
Tens of millions of viewers may actually be a ratings dream for ABC, the fourth-place network that, in last week's ratings battle, for example, didn't have one show in the top 10 and finished the week averaging just 8.3 million viewers.
The network, which has yet to recover from the nose dive its ratings took in 2001 when viewers decided they'd seen one--or 12--too many installments of the overplayed Who Wants to Be a Millionaire in prime time, is not only leaning on dramas to boost its profile, but is also looking to TV veterans like Patrick Dempsey, Steven Bocho, Tim Daly and Kelly Osbourne--in a dramatic role--to lure viewers back to its lineups.
A rundown of ABC's other new series:
* The Benefactor (fall): Eccentric billionaire and owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban looks to--forgive us--trump NBC's successful reality series The Apprentice with his own competition, in which 16 butt-kissers endure a series of challenges to try to prove to Cuban why each of them is worthy of the million-dollar prize he's offering.
* Rodney (fall): Comedian Rodney Carrington is the latest stand-up comic to get his own sitcom, this one--surprise--featuring him as an everyday guy trying to be a decent husband and father. Very Home Improvement-y.
* Lost (fall): Created by Alias' J.J. Abrams, the drama revolves around a group of plane-crash survivors who are trapped on a deserted island. Stars Lord of the Rings' Dominic Monaghan, Naveen Andrews (The English Patient) and Harold Perrineau (Oz).
* Wife Swap (fall): A reality series, based on a hit British show, about two moms who swap families for 10 days and must first follow the rules of the new house, and then implement their own lifestyle for the rest of the time.
* Life as We Know It (fall): Based on British author Melvin Burgess' young-adult novel Doing It, the coming-of-age drama stars Kelly Osbourne (yes, that Kelly Osbourne) and newcomer Sean Faris (Undressed) and follows a group of sex-crazed teen boys (is there any other kind?) and their girlfriends. The series is produced by Freaks and Geeks producers-writers Gabe Sachs and Jeff Judah.
* Savages (fall): Keith Carradine (Deadwood) stars as a single dad who tries to wrangle a brood of five rowdy boys in a My Three Sons-ish sitcom produced by Mel Gibson and based on Gibson's own experiences as the father of five boys.
* The Practice: Fleet Street (fall): James Spader will continue to steal every scene he's in on this David E. Kelley-produced dramedy spinoff of The Practice that finds his Alan Shore character working with law cohorts William Shatner, Rhona Mitra and Lake Bell.
* Blind Justice (midseason): ER's Ron Eldard stars as a blind detective in this promising drama from Steven Bochco. The show will fill the timeslot left when Bochco's NYPD Blue wraps its 11-season run in January. Rena Sofer, from last year's failed NBC sitcom Coupling, also stars.
* Grey's Anatomy (midseason): A medical drama starring Patrick Dempsey (The Practice and Once and Again), Isaiah Washington (Out of Sight), Katherine Heigl (Roswell) and Ellen Pompeo (Old School).
* Eyes (midseason): Tim Daly, last seen as a drug-addicted gambler on The Sopranos earlier this season and best known for his role on NBC's Wings, stars as a rogue private eye. Melrose Place star Laura Leighton and The L Word's Eric Mabius also star.
Among the high-profile pilots that didn't make the cut for ABC's schedule: Hot Momma, a sitcom starring Nick Lachey; an untitled sitcom featuring Lachey's wife and reality costar, pop singer Jessica Simpson; a comedy starring Jennifer Love Hewitt as a single mom; and a highly-touted John Stamos comedy that was thought by many to be a shoo-in for ABC's Friday night lineup.
Among the other changes at ABC next season, substitute news anchor Elizabeth Vargas will take over Barbara Walters' 20/20 cohosting duties; Chris Cuomo, son of former New York Governor Mario Cuomo, joins the round-up of anchors on Primetime Live; and British journalist Martin Bashir, best known for his infamous 2003 Michael Jackson interview, joins 20/20 as a correspondent.
And existing series missing from ABC's 2004-05 plans: 10-8, I'm with Her, It's All Relative, Karen Sisco, Kingdom Hospital, Life with Bonnie, Line of Fire and Threat Matrix.
The following is a night-by-night look at the Alphabet network's fall schedule:
MONDAY: (fall) The Benefactor, Monday Night Football; (January) ABC Monday Night Movie, Grey's Anatomy
TUESDAY: My Wife and Kids; George Lopez; According to Jim; Rodney; NYPD Blue/Blind Justice
WEDNESDAY: Lost; The Bachelor; Wife Swap
THURSDAY: Extreme Makeover; Life As We Know It; Primetimee Live
FRIDAY: 8 Simple Rules; Savages; Hope & Faith; Less Than Perfect; 20/20
SATURDAY: Wonderful World of Disney
SUNDAY: America's Funniest Home Videos; Extreme Makeover: Home Edition; Desperate Housewives/Alias (January); The Practice: Fleet Street.
TV DVDs!
Paramount has just officially announced a whole mess of new TV releases on DVD, both new and classic series! Let's run them down for you.
First up, Happy Days: The Complete First Season arrives on 8/17, featuring all 16 episodes of the show's first year on 3 discs.
Also on 8/17, look for Laverne & Shirley: The Complete First Season featuring 15 episodes on 3 discs.
That same day, you'll also get a more recent show - Al Franken's Lateline: The Complete Series, which will feature all 19 episodes of the series (including 4 that never aired) on 3 discs.
Oh, but that's not all. Paramount has announced a number of additional TV releases as well.
Touched by an Angel: Season 1, Survivor All Stars and I Love Lucy: Season 2 will all street on 8/31, with Keen Eddie: The Complete Series and Mork & Mindy: Season 1 following on 9/7. 7th Heaven: Season 1 and CSI: Crime Scene Investigation - Season 4 are expected on 9/14.
Frasier: The Final Season is due on 9/21. Finally, The Andy Griffith Show: Season 1, Taxi: Season 1, The Jamie Kennedy Experiment: Season 2, Hogan's Heroes: Season 1 and CSI: Miami - Season 2 are all expected to arrive on 10/12. Whew!