Briefly put, the Naked Cowboy and candy giant Mars reached a down-to-earth settlement in Federal Court Friday over a Times Square billboard.

No one's talking, least of all the normally voluble Robert Burck, who parades around the Crossroads of the World in his skivvies, strumming a guitar and urging passersby to think of him as God.

Burck sued Mars for millions last winter, alleging two Times Square billboards and a mural that depicted a guitar-wielding M&M candy in tight white shorts gave the impression that he's endorsing their product.

Last June, Federal Judge Denny Chin ruled the Cowboy's suit accusing Mars of "false endorsement" could continue.

The suit was resolved Friday with a closed-door settlement.

By Owen Moritz
DAILY NEWS STAFF WRITER
Cooper/AP

(BUSKER ALLEY) Buskers sometimes avoid cities where licensing is required. To them, it doesn't make sense when the hat may be too small to consider a permit. This creates a dilemma.When you think about it, the pay to play scheme actually has it's own valuable benefits. Consequently, it sometimes leaves the door wide open to busk a city where little if any busking is occuring. By asking how many busking permits have been issued, buskers can get an approximation of the competition to be expected.

By being permitted, the busker may also have a selection of top pitches from which to choose.

Since busking is always weather permitting, warm sunny days year-round really helps the tourism industry as well as the busker's pocketbook.

When all the factors are added up, it may make perfect sense to have...

[ Continued ]

(from the You've got-to-be-kidding-me Department)
One of the themes of 2009 was that collection societies around the world went nuts trying to charge for anything they possibly could while also trying to increase the rates they could charge. Even banks went wild with their hidden charges.

Remember how one collection society wanted to charge a woman because she put on music in public for her horses? Or how about the woman who worked in a grocery store who was told to stop singing while stocking the shelves or the store would have to pay a performance fee? And, of course, we had ASCAP trying to claim that ringtones were public performances, and mobile operators needed to pay up -- beyond the license fee that was already paid on the recording.

SOCAN, the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada, has been no exception pushing for drastically increased rates...

[ Continued ]

(CAMBRIDGE) - He's Brother Blue - the street performer who hoped to change the world one story at a time.But his wife of 60 years still recalls their first encounter, long before Hugh Morgan Hill became known as the father of modern storytelling.

Full story and video

With bits and pieces from Bob Dylan, the Old Crow Medicine Show has gathered a following in the contemporary musical landscape. A repertoire of songs ended up in a street-corner string band with frontman Ketch Secor leading the way. From a Dylan snippet, the song "Wagon Wheel" attracted the attention of Coldplay and an album was to follow.

Bob Dylan was to lend another lyrical scrap to their next noticable song "Sweet Amarillo" which enabled "the Crows" to officially join the Nashville scene in the hallowed Grand Ole Opry. They also received accolades from the Americana Music Awards as "Trailblazers".

The album "Remedy" topped the iTunes Country Albums chart with an old-time string band template. With "Remedy", the Old Crow Medicine Show has established...

[ Continued ]