DETROIT (AP) – Kid Rock has won an initial victory in his attempt to stop a California company from releasing an explicit sex video featuring the rap-rocker, former Creed singer Scott Stapp and four women.
U.S. District Court Judge John Feikens signed a temporary order that stops David Joseph and his World Wide Red Light District company from posting a preview clip of the video on its Web sites.
On Tuesday, Kid Rock’s lawyers sued Red Light, which made headlines in 2004 by distributing the Paris Hilton sex video, accusing the firm of violating Kid Rock’s trademark and privacy rights. The lawsuit seeks a permanent court order halting sale or distribution of the video.
“We don’t deny the authenticity of the tape,” Kid Rock’s lawyer, William Horton, told the Detroit Free Press. “But they’re using this without his permission to drive the sales of their other products.”
“Even rock stars are entitled to privacy,” said co-counsel Michael Novak.
The temporary order covers only a 40-second preview. The order remains in effect until a court hearing Friday, even though the company removed it from the Internet last week after receiving a cease-and-desist order from Stapp’s lawyers.
Red Light lawyer Ray Tamaddon said he couldn’t comment on the lawsuit because he hadn’t seen it. But he said the company is confident that it is within its legal rights.
“These are public figures, and the standards are different,” he said.
In an affidavit filed with the lawsuit, Kid Rock, who was born Robert Ritchie, said the video was shot in 1999 near Miami. At the time, Stapp was the lead singer of Creed.
Kid Rock said in the lawsuit filing that it was clearly understood that the video would remain Stapp’s private property and would not be displayed publicly.
Joseph has said previously that he got the tape from a third party. It involved women from a strip club and was taken in a motor home, he said.
James Brown shakes up Shanghai
SHANGHAI, China (AP) – The city: Shanghai. The venue: a drafty People’s Liberation Army acrobatics theater. The event: James Brown.
The 72-year-old Godfather of Soul made his mainland China debut Wednesday, belting out classics such as “Get up Offa That Thing” before a capacity crowd.
“We are going to funk you up before we finish,” Brown said three songs into his set, which he kicked off with “Make it Funky.”
Dressed in a cherry red satin suit, he shimmied, shook and leapt – although not quite as high as he once did.
Behind him, the nine-piece Soul General, complete with gold epaulets on their suits, put on a virtuoso display of rhythm and horns. His quartet of backup singers, the General Sweet, egged on the cheering, clapping crowd that filled the Yunfeng Theater in the heart of Shanghai’s once-thriving nightclub district.
Brown is little known in China, and Wednesday’s audience was overwhelmingly European, American and Japanese – evidence of Shanghai’s increasingly international, cosmopolitan complexion.
The singer has shown no signs of slowing down, with the Shanghai concert coming in the middle of an Asian tour that also included a swing through Australia.
In an interview with The Associated Press last year, Brown shrugged off talk of retirement and said his work is the root of much of today’s music.
“Retire for what? What would I do? I made my name as a person that is helping. I’m like Moses in the music business,” he said.
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On the Net:
http://www.godfatherofsoul.com/
Award goes to Freeman
LOS ANGELES (AP) – Morgan Freeman will be honored with UCLA’s Spencer Tracy Award, which recognizes outstanding screen performances and professional achievement.
Jason Kaminsky, UCLA campus events commissioner, made the announcement Tuesday. An awards ceremony is scheduled for March 7.
“It was said that Spencer Tracy’s natural style set him apart from actors of his time and set performance standards for future generations,” Kaminsky said. “We think that the same can be said for the acting of Mr. Freeman.”
Freeman, 68, won an Oscar for his role helping Clint Eastwood toughen up a woman boxer in “Million Dollar Baby,” and he has received Oscar nominations for roles in “Street Smart,” “Driving Miss Daisy” and “The Shawshank Redemption.”
The Tracy Award ceremony will include a video retrospective of Freeman’s career, including his newest film, “Lucky Number Slevin,” which co-stars Ben Kingsley, Bruce Willis and Josh Hartnett.
“Spencer Tracy is known by many as one of the finest actors in film history,” Freeman said. “Receiving this award is truly an honor.”
Previous Tracy Award recipients include Jimmy Stewart, Michael Douglas, Denzel Washington, Tom Hanks and Anthony Hopkins.
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