Britney Spears' label sues blogger

Britney Spears' label sues blogger

By Catherine Elsworth in Los Angeles
Last Updated: 5:55pm BST 12/10/2007

Britney Spears' record label is suing a popular Los Angeles gossip blogger for illegally posting tracks from her new album on his website weeks before its scheduled release date.

The lawsuit against PerezHilton.com came a day after Jive Records announced it was bringing forward the release of the album Blackout by two weeks because of internet leaks.

Many of the tracks expected to be on the record have already been posted on YouTube.com and other sites.

Blackout, Spears' first album of new material in four years, is now due to go on sale on October 29 in Europe and the following day in the United State.

The suit from Jive, part of Sony BMG Music Entertainment's Zomba Label Group, accuses Mario Lavandeira, who runs PerezHilton.com, of breach of copyright after 10 completed tracks and unfinished demos from the album appeared on the blog.

It is demanding unspecified damages plus legal costs.

Mr Lavandeira, who has faced previous lawsuits for alleged copyright infringement over celebrity photographs and is also being sued by Lindsay Lohan's best friend over claims she put drugs in the actress's car, plans to fight the suit. Bryan Freedman, a lawyer for Lavandeira, questioned why PerezHilton.com was being targeted when numerous websites had posted tracks from the album.

"It seems to me that when you single out PerezHilton and put out a press release, that maybe what you're looking for is publicity,” he said, adding that Mr Lavandeira “will be vigorously defended in any action that is filed against him.”

Spears, whose singing has taken a backseat to her troubled personal life over the past few years, is pinning her hopes of a career comeback on the record.

Her botched performance of the one of the album's tracks, Gimme More, at last month's MTV Video Music Awards was savaged by critics.

But the song itself received good reviews and topped digital songs charts, boosting hopes the new record could supply a much-needed turnaround in the troubled singer's fortunes.

Meanwhile, Spears, who last week temporarily lost custody of her two young sons, was granted overnight visits with her children by a Los Angeles judge after showing up in court to make a personal plea.

In Thursday's closed hearing, the latest in her bitter custody battle with ex-husband Kevin Federline, Spears won permission to spend one night a week with Sean Preston, two, and Jayden James, one, under the supervision of a court monitor.

Previously Spears and Federline had joint custody of the boys.

But the singer lost custody after failing to comply with court orders for random drug and alcohol testing and was told she could only see her sons during supervised daytime visits.

The judge agreed to modify his previous order after the pop singer appeared for Thursday's hearing. It was the first time she has been present for proceedings regarding the future of her sons.