A former employee of Sean 'Diddy' Combs' Bad Boy Entertainment has accused the rapper of firing her on the grounds that she was too old. Francesca Spero, who is 51, filed an age discrimination lawsuit in New York on Wednesday.

In court documents, Spero states that she met Combs in 1988 and got a job at Uptown Records after he introduced her to owner Russell Simmons. A decade later, she moved to Bad Boy Entertainment, where she worked for twelve years before being fired in March after undergoing hip surgery and admitting to a company executive that she was being treated for drug dependency.

Combs' publicist told reporters: "There are many reasons why Ms Spero is no longer employed by Bad Boy, but age discrimination is not one of them".

Rap man TI and his wife, former Xscape signer Tameka Cottle, were both arrested in LA on Wednesday on suspicion of drug possession. They were arrested after a sheriff's deputy thought he smelled cannabis smoke coming from the couple's vehicle during a traffic stop.

According to the Associated Press, the couple were released at 4am yesterday morning after they both presented $10,000 in bail money. Specific details of the charges they face have not been released.

TI could really do without any run ins with the police just now, given he is still on probation after spending six months in jail last year relating to gun charges. According to WENN that probation includes regular drugs counselling.

German collecting society GEMA failed to get an injunction to force YouTube to take down videos containing one of 75 songs last week.

As much previously reported, the German equivalent of PRS has been in dispute with YouTube over royalty rates for over a year now. After ongoing licensing talks between the collecting society and video site broke down in May, GEMA asked the German courts to issue an injunction to force the Google-owned site to remove any videos containing one of 75 songs owned by publishers represented by the collecting society.

The society argued an injunction was needed now, pending other legal action, on urgency grounds because, given there is currently no licensing agreement between YouTube and GEMA, the writers of the 75 songs in question are losing money every time one of their videos is played.

But, according to Billboard, the Regional Court Of Hamburg, while not passing judgment on GEMA's wider copyright claim, said it was not convinced by the urgency argument so would not issue any interim injunctions. GEMA can, of course, proceed with their other legal action against YouTube, but the 75 songs may continue to be accessed via the video site in the meantime. 

GEMA have a month to appeal the injunction ruling should they wish to.

Lawyers for EMI reportedly got out their most expensive ink earlier this week and used it to pen a legal letter to a new MP3 service that has surfaced in the US called Zaptunes.com.

Zaptunes.com claims to offer an all-you-can-eat download service for $25 a month, though as we write a free trial offer is also available. The big clue to the new service's dodginess is that the catalogue of tracks from which users can download includes Beatles songs which, of course, are not available from any legit digital service. Their presence is also why EMI are one of the first record companies to take an interest.

Digital Music News has speculated that the site is actually more designed to rip off users than record labels, and that the whole thing is an elaborate phishing scam designed to nab music fans' credit card details. Nevertheless, the legal teams at record companies will be taking an interest. One source told DMN: "EMI Group is already drafting the legal paperwork against this shenanigan". I think everyone expects Zaptunes.com to disappear off the web pretty soon.

Meanwhile, for legal reasons, we must stress that EMI's lawyers did not actually waste their most expensive ink writing to this sham website, the expensive ink mentioned above was merely figurative. If EMI have, indeed, sent a cease and desist to Zaptunes.com we are sure it was printed using cost-efficient laser printer toner, no doubt with 'toner save' turned to on. Not that we're calling them cheap, you understand.

A US gig promoter is suing the city of Los Angeles after a planned Tiësto concert, due to be held at the LA Convention Center next month, was cancelled.

Another event organised in LA by Insomnia Inc earlier this year, called the Electric Daisy Carnival, caused some controversy when a fifteen year old girl who got into the eighteen-plus event died of an Ecstasy overdose. Eighty others were arrested, mainly on drugs offences. It is thought the city's decision to cancel the Tiësto gig is linked to that event.

But Insomnia say the cancellation of the gig is unfair because the promoter has organised five previous Tiësto concerts in the city all of which have passed without incident. They are suing for breach of contract.

Nadja Benaissa, a member of German pop group No Angels, has been found guilty of grievous bodily harm after admitting to knowingly exposing three sexual partners to the HIV, one of whom subsequently contracted the virus. She was given a two year suspended sentence, 300 hours of community service and been order to attend regular counselling sessions.

As previously reported, Nadja Benaissa was charged with one count of causing grievous bodily harm and two of attempting to cause bodily harm in February this year, after originally being arrested in April last year. She allegedly had sex with all the men in question between 2000 and 2004, and was diagnosed with HIV in 1999.

At the start of her trial earlier this month, Benaissa told the court: "I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. The last thing I wanted was for my partner to get infected. [I feared that revealing my diagnosis] would probably have meant the end for No Angels".

She also claimed that doctors had told her that the chances of her passing on the infection were "practically zero".

Judge Dennis Wacker told the court in the city of Darmstadt yesterday that Benaissa had been found guilty of grievous bodily harm because she had acted carelessly, but was given a lenient sentence because she had confessed, shown remorse and "learned to be responsible and deal with her illness".

Benaissa did not speak to reporters upon leaving the court, but her lawyer Oliver Wallasch said outside: "I can't say whether she's going back on stage because I'm not her manager but I'm sure she'll crack open a champagne bottle tonight. We had a very fair and speedy trial. The aim of the defence and my client was to have a verdict which led to probation and this was the result. Today will be a turning point in her life, as she now knows that she will not be imprisoned. Her reaction was emotional because it was the end".

Former Happy Monday Bez had a not so happy Wednesday yesterday when he was thrown in jail for a month. The jail sentence related to that previously reported assault conviction dished out earlier this month after an altercation between him and the mother of his two year old son back in May.

He would have got away with community service and a fine, but he chose to represent himself in court, which is never a good idea, especially if you're a space cadet with a vocabulary of just under 60 words.

According to the Press Association, when magistrate Marie Cash passed her initial sentence Bez, real name Mark Berry, said he wouldn't do it, telling her: "I'm not doing it. Bothered? I'm going to appeal and take this to a real court". Cash responded by jailing him. Oh, to be a magistrate.

A handcuffed Bez later reportedly shouted "victory is in my grasp" as he was escorted to the cells, possibly because he was having a flashback to the last night of his stint on 'Celebrity Big Brother'.

A manhunt seemingly occurred in LA yesterday for that Timbaland fella after a family member expressed concern for his safety to the authorities. Said family member thought the producer might harm himself, ie commit suicide, because he was so distraught after a $2 million piece of jewellery, widely reported to be a watch, was stolen.

But Mr Land soon turned up, explaining he'd just gone out for a drive to clear his head after discovering the jewellery theft. According to People magazine, he told Ryan Seacrest on his radio show yesterday: "I don't even know what happened, to be honest I don't know what people are talking about. Why would I commit suicide?"

He added: "Something [was stolen] but it wasn't a watch, it was something else. [So I took] a drive to figure out how I'm going to handle it".

Personally I'm quite distraught any one piece of jewellery could be deemed to be worth $2 million. But don't worry, I won't commit suicide. Though I might lock myself in that cupboard for ten minutes and cry.

Ann Kirsten Kennis, the model whose picture appeared as the cover art and main focus of promotional material for Vampire Weekend's latest album, 'Contra', has spoken to Vanity Fair about her subsequent lawsuit over use of the photograph without her permission.

As previously reported, the now former model launched a $2 million lawsuit against photographer Tod Brody, the band and their label XL Recordings earlier this year. Brody claims that he took to photograph in a 1983 television commercial casting session, pinning it up on the wall behind his desk for 26 years before selling it to the band in 2009.

Kennis, however, disputes that Brody took the photograph at all, speculating that it was actually taken by her mother: "It's not even like it's a Polaroid before a photo shoot, because the hair's not done, the makeup's not done, the lighting's not done. Nothing. It almost looks like somebody caught me by surprise. The other thing that's strange about this photo is that it's not taken [in front of a] seamless [back-drop] like it would be in a photographer's studio. You can see a door frame there and hinges right in the background".

However, Brody refutes this suggestion, telling the magazine: "As a photographer, for them to try to say that I didn't take the photo and I claimed I took the photo - that's extremely damaging".

Although this dispute over who took the photograph is likely to be discussed if the case goes to trial, the main focus of Kennis' legal action is, as previously reported, a release form seemingly giving her permission for the band to use the picture, which she says was forged.

The document in question, which is apparently dated 30 Jul 2009, is an agreement between Vampire Weekend Inc and Kirsten Jonsen - Kennis went by the stage name Kirsten when she was a model, though her maiden name is actually Klendshoj. The model's address is listed as that given as Brody's residence in Kennis' lawsuit. It is then signed by 'Kirsten Johnsen', who seemingly confirms she is handing over the rights to the picture for a fee of $1.

The article's author, Jessica Flint notes: "The notion that Ann Kennis would have signed the document in 2009 using her old stage name, Kirsten, and a last name seemingly pulled from thin air stretches credulity, as does the idea that this veteran model, who was compensated at a level just below that of an elite supermodel during her ten year modelling career, would have sold the rights to her image for a mere dollar".

Both XL and Vampire Weekend say that they believed they had licensed the photograph legitimately, though they are named on the lawsuit because Kennis feels that they did not go to far enough lengths to confirm that the signature and name on the release form were genuine.

If Kennis wins her case, she stands to receive substantial damages and potentially a cut of profits from 'Contra', which has sold over half a million copies worldwide.

George Michael has pleaded guilty to driving while under the influence of drugs and also to cannabis possession. The singer appeared at Highgate Magistrates Court this morning to face the charges.

As previously reported, Michael was arrested last month after he crashed his car into a branch of Snappy Snaps in Hampstead. He was formally charged on 13 Aug, following further investigations by the police (what further investigations there need to be when someone's car is embedded in a shop and they've got a pocketful of weed I'm not sure).

Of course, Michael has a string of drug driving offences to his name, having crashed into parked cars, fallen asleep at traffic lights and driven into a lorry on the A34 (though he says he was sober when that last one happened).

He was last convicted of DUI in May 2007, following that there previously mentioned nap he took while waiting for a set of traffic lights to go green. That resulted in a two year driving ban.

It's not yet clear what sentence the singer might face on this occasion, though an introduction to the concept of using taxis when high might not go amiss.

A lawsuit brought against Michael Jackson shortly before his death in 2009 has been dismissed.

As previously reported, AllGood Entertainment claimed that Jackson had breached a contract with them when he signed up for his ultimately doomed O2 residency, because he had already signed an exclusivity deal with them to perform at a televised reunion concert with the Jackson Five. AllGood sued Jackson for $40 million, and after his death sent a $300 million creditor's note to the singer's estate. However, last week a judge dismissed the claim.

The Jackson family's lawyer, Howard Weitzman, said that the case had "never had any merit and the claim was frivolous from day one. Michael Jackson never agreed to participate in a concert promoted by AllGood as the judge clearly found in his opinion".

In other Michael Jackson court news, Dr Conrad Murray, who is accused of killing the singer by providing him with a lethal dose of anaesthetic, will have a preliminary hearing in January to decide whether or not he should face a full trial for involuntary manslaughter.

Judge Michael Pastor scheduled the preliminary hearing for 4 Jan at the Los Angeles Superior Court this week. Murray was present at the brief court session, as were members of the Jackson family, including Michael's parents Joe and Katherine.

Singer Lee Ryan was arrested last week and charged with common assault after allegedly punching his fiancée Samantha Millar, police have confirmed.

The attack is said to have taken place while the couple were in a car in London's West End last Wednesday.

A spokesman for Ryan told the BBC: "Lee 100% denies common assault. He will be fighting theses charges in court".

The Blue member and solo artist will appear at the City Of Westminster Magistrates Court on Friday.

N-Dubz's tour drummer Aaron Fagan has been found guilty of sexually assaulting two students at Strathclyde University in Glasgow last October. As previously reported, Fagan was in Glasgow with his bandmates for the MOBO Awards, and the group seemingly held their after show party at the university's students' union.

At an earlier hearing in July one of the victims told Glasgow Sheriff Court: "He asked if I wanted to go to an N-Dubz after party. He then put his arms over our shoulders and started leading us up the stairway. As we were climbing the stairs he took his hand away from my neck and put it on my bottom and started grabbing at it. We carried on climbing the stairs and he hit my friend on the bum, too. He then moved round behind me and with both arms reaching round from behind, started to grab my breasts".

Giving evidence at the trial himself, Fagan admitted that he is like "honey to a swarm of bees" when it comes to the band's female fans, but added that he would not have done something like this in Glasgow, which he said was "hardly a haven for models". Hmm, not always wise to diss the entire female population of Glasgow while facing charges in a Glasgow court room. He went on to claim his accusers had invented their account of events after one of the band's reps had called them "mingers" and refused them entry to the party.

However, handing down the guilty verdict Sheriff Joanna Johnston told Fagan: "I do not accept your account of events and I consider that you said what you did to try to avoid responsibility for your actions".

Leaving the dock, Fagan shouted: "This wasn't justice today!" Later, outside the court, he told reporters: "I'm a black man and I have been tried by a white jury. It's pretty clear what happened in that court and it's the opposite of justice. I've been convicted with no evidence, no CCTV or anything ... Tell me how many people could have been convicted for squeezing a girl's arse, nearly every guy could be up for that".

Fagan, who was not tried by jury, white or otherwise, will now be placed on the sex offenders register.

Twelve people accused of involvement in an elaborate money laundering scam whereby they uploaded songs to legit download sites, including iTunes and Amazon MP3, and then bought them with stolen or cloned credit cards thus generating royalties for themselves (and, they hoped, nicely cleaned stolen loot) are due to begin their trial in London next month.

As previously reported, the group, who all hail from around the UK, though mainly Wolverhampton, were arrested in June last year in a joint operation between the Metropolitan Police and the FBI. Eight men aged between nineteen and 24 are accused of uploading around 20 tunes they'd produced to the digital music stores. They then went online using 1500 different stolen credit cards and bought their own music, spending over £450,000, and earning themselves £200,000 in royalties.

Four others will face charges related to the scam. The trial is due to begin at the City Of Westminster Magistrates' Court on 15 Sep.

Michael Jackson's parents are to divorce after 60 years of marriage. Although the couple have been estranged for five years, Katherine reportedly made the decision to formalise their split after Joe recently accused her of being responsible for their son's death.

Despite their separation, Katherine has apparently been reluctant to divorce until now, mainly because she's a Jehovah's Witness and that sort of thing is frowned upon by her religion.

As previously reported, Joe told the News Of The World in June this year: "[After Michael's death] Katherine was weeping uncontrollably and highly upset. But I didn't give her a hug because I was mad at her crying. I said, 'If you had listened to me, Michael would be living now'. I kept thinking about the times I had stood in front of her saying something was wrong. I couldn't bottle up my feelings. Katherine didn't say a word - I had to get away from her. If she'd done what I asked, Michael would be here today. I am incensed with her. She could have made a difference. In Michael's final months alive I said to her, many times, that I couldn't get through to him - and that she needed to help her son".

A spokesperson for Katherine reportedly said: "Joe Jackson's statement and conduct toward Mrs Jackson are outrageous. The world also knows who Joe Jackson is and he seems bent on never letting us forget. She's been humiliated by him for too long. She's absolutely livid. There's no going back".

Including Michael, the couple, who married in 1949, have nine children, as well as 26 grand children.

Poison man Bret Michaels is suing a US gig promoter for a cool five million in a dispute over an abandoned gig that was due to take place in Syracuse, New York State earlier this month.

According to reports, Michaels only found out the gig had been cancelled when he showed up at the venue and found it shut. Meanwhile the promoter claimed that the show had to be axed because the Poison man had a clashing TV appearance. Michaels did appear on an edition of 'American's Got Talent' that aired that night, but it was a pre-recorded show.

Michaels reckons promoter Michael Banks had financial issues and that was the real reason the concert was cancelled. He is suing for breach of contract and defamation in relation to the claims the cancellation was Michaels' fault.

Banks is yet to respond.

Courtney Love has settled a lawsuit relating to the Kurt Cobain publishing catalogue. The Hole frontwoman was sued in 2008 by management firm London & Co, who said she had failed to pass on earnings they were due from the sale of her late husband's publishing rights, a deal the company said had netted her $20 million.

According to Associated Press, London & Co have informed the LA judge overseeing the case that they have settled, later confirmed by Love's lawyer, though no details of the settlement have been made public.

Ice-T had driving charges brought against him in July dropped by a New York court yesterday.

As previously reported, Ice-T was pulled over in New York last month after he was seen driving without a seatbelt. There were reports that police believed him to be driving on a suspended license, that they booked him, and that they temporarily banned him from driving.

Shortly after the incident, Ice-T took to the internet to deny the reports he'd been driving on a suspended license, and to criticise the conduct of the police who pulled him over.

Prosecutors in the case told the court that the rapper's license had never been suspended, and put the whole incident down to a clerical error. As a result, the case was dismissed.

Asked by a reporter outside the court what he planned to do next, Ice-T said: "Oh, I don't know. I think we'll go to Disneyland".

Erykah Badu has been given six months probation and a $500 fine after being arrested for disorderly conduct for stripping in public while shooting the video for her single, 'Window Seat', in March this year.

As previously reported, the video, inspired by a similar striptease pop promo made by New York indie pop outfit Matt & Kim in their home city last year, was recorded in Dallas back on 13 Mar. In Badu's video the sequence finishes with the naked singer pretending to be shot dead at the spot where JFK was killed in 1963. Blue blood pours from her head to spell the word "groupthink" while a voiceover says: "People are quick to assassinate what they do not understand ... this is what we have become ... afraid to respect the individual".

Although the Badu video, seemingly filmed without a permit and with no extras in the crowd around her (Matt & Kim had both), caused some media coverage and shouts of abuse when filmed, it was after the event that a formal complaint was made to the police. Actually, lots of complaints were made to police once the video appeared on the net, but one came from someone who was actually there, and it is that complaint that was used as the basis for the disorderly conduct charge in April.

Badu later defended the video, telling 'The Wanda Sykes Show': "My point was grossly misunderstood all over America. JFK is one of my heroes, one of the nation's heroes. John F Kennedy was a revolutionary; he was not afraid to butt heads with America, and I was not afraid to show America my butt-naked truth".

A Dallas city official yesterday said in a statement that Badu had paid her fine last week and would remain on probation until 11 Feb next year.

Watch the offending video here: youtu.be/9hVp47f5YZg

A member of No Angels, a German girl group originally created by the country's version of the 'Popstars' TV show, has confessed to knowingly having unprotected sex with three men without informing them that she is HIV positive, one of whom subsequently contracted the virus.

As previously reported, Nadja Benaissa was charged with one count of causing grievous bodily harm and two of attempting to cause bodily harm in February this year, after originally being arrested in April last year. She allegedly had sex with all the men in question between 2000 and 2004, and was diagnosed with HIV in 1999.

Benaissa made the admission shortly after her trial got under way in the city of Darmstadt, telling the court: "I'm sorry from the bottom of my heart. The last thing I wanted was for my partner to get infected. [I feared that revealing my diagnosis] would probably have meant the end for No Angels".

She also claimed that doctors had told her that the chances of her passing on the infection were "practically zero".

Also appearing in court to give evidence, the unnamed man who became infected with HIV after sleeping with the singer told her: "You have created a lot of suffering in the world".

However, some have condemned the way Benaissa's case has been handled. Edwin Bernard, a writer and advocate specialising in HIV prosecutions, told the BBC: "By singling out HIV, it really promotes fear and stigma. Many of these cases, and in particular the media reporting of these cases, perpetuate an awful lot of myths about how HIV is transmitted, as well as things like the life expectancy, which is pretty close to normal now in the developed world".

If found guilty, Benaissa faces between six and ten years in prison.