Names and faces
Director Spike Lee says he won’t be using R& B singer Chrisette Michele’s music in a new project because of her decision to perform at Donald Trump’ s presidential inauguration. Michele seemed to allude to the cont rover sy Thursday on her blog, where she posted an open letter titled “We can’t be present if we’re silent,” in which she quotes Martin Luther King Jr. as she justifies her involvement: “‘ Our lives begin to end the day we become silent about what matters.’” Michele wrote that she is “willing to be a bridge. I don’t mind ‘ These Stones’, if they allow me to be a voice for the voiceless.” She used the hash tag No Political Genius. On Ins tag ram, Lee wrote that he was sorry Michele was performing at the inaugural. He says he was considering using Michele’s “Black Girl Magic” in his Netflix series, She’s Gotta Have It but won’t anymore. Michele’s spokesman confirmed that she will be performing today. The one- time Def Jam and then Motown artist gained fame when she appeared as a singer on several rap tracks, including Jay- Z’s “Lost One” in 2006. Her will. i. am collaboration “Be OK” won her a Grammy in 2009. Other singers set to perform at the inauguration concert on the National Mall include country singers Toby Keith and Lee Greenwood and 3 Doors Down.
Paul McCartney says he wants his music to get back to where it once belonged. McCartney filed a lawsuit in federal court in Manhattan on Wednesday against Sony/ ATV over copyright ownership of the many hit songs he wrote with John Lennon as part of The Beatles. The copyrights were famously bought by Michael Jackson in 1985 and then sold in entirety to Sony/ ATV after his death. McCartney has long wanted the copyrights, and the filing says he has sent notice to Sony/ ATV saying that he will claim them back under a provision of U.S. copyright law that makes that possible after a certain time. The first song eligible to be claimed back is “Love Me Do,” in October 2018. The rest of the catalog would follow in years after, ending in 2026. Sony/ ATV said it had “the highest respect” for McCartney, but said it was “disappointed” that a lawsuit has been filed, which it called “premature.”