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Prince is supposed to be one of the legends of our time and he is out here stealing songs? Ouch!

An appeals court in Italy has ruled pop superstar PRINCE stole his THE MOST BEAUTIFUL GIRL IN THE WORLD hit from two European songwriters. Officials at the Court of Appeal in Rome have decided the 1994 hit borrowed heavily from Bruno Bergonzi and Michele Vicino’s Takin’ Me to Paradise.

Under the ruling, Prince must stop distributing the song on Italian territory. He also faces having to pay the royalties he has so far accumulated to Bergonzi and Vicino and their publishers, but only if a final hearing confirms the Italian songwriting duo was plagiarised.
Bergonzi and Vicino’s tune was a small European pop hit in 1983.
Bergonzi tells Billboard.com, “When we first heard Prince’s song we immediately took action, but this case has been dragging on for 15 years and it isn’t over yet, such is the slowness of the Italian legal system. We only decided to go public with our story now.”
A court originally rejected the songwriters’ claim in 2003. For a sentence to become definitive in Italy, a “third degree” ruling is necessary.

Claudio Buja, the head of Prince’s new label Universal Music Publishing in Italy, tells the website, “We are waiting to see the outcome of the third and final sentence. We’re wary of making a comment at this stage, but I can say that plagiarism cases are invariably delicate and difficult.”

Maybe this is Prince just getting even with other people stealing his music.

Hip-hop mogul DAMON DASH is facing foreclosure on his luxury New York homes.
  Eastern Savings Bank has filed a suit against the Roc-A-Fella Records co-founder, accusing him of falling behind on payments on his two TriBeCa properties.
  Dash reportedly took out a $7.3 million (GBP3.65 million) mortgage on the two homes, but the bank has now filed a foreclosure action against the star - charging him with failing to deliver the $78,500 (GBP39,250)-a-month payments since January (08), according to New York gossip column PageSix.

It is not the first time Dash has faced a financial crisis – last year (07) he was accused of owing the New York tax department $2 million (GBP1 million) in back charges. (LR/WNWCPS/CL)

Bernie Mac is alive and recovering from a bout with pneumonia contrary to many media outlets claiming that he has passed away. His publicist, Danica Smith confirmed on Friday, Aug. 8th that Mac was being treated for the deadly illness at a clinic in his native Chicago, Illinois. Smith insists, “Bernie Mac is still alive and being treated in a Chicago hospital for pneumonia and is expected to make a full recovery. We once again ask that the press respect his privacy and that of his family. Mr. Mac is responding well to treatment and will be released soon. He asked that his privacy and that of his family is respected while he gets well.”

Since 2004, Juelz Santana has been co-signed to Def Jam and Camron’s Dipset Records. With the ongoing feud, Camron has decided to ditch Juelz for good. In a recent interview with New York’s Hot 97 radio DJ Miss Info, Cam’ron revealed, “I sold Juelz’s contract to Def Jam for $2 million.” But Santana insists he isn’t upset about the move – and he has vowed to continue representing the group in his future projects, despite in-fighting among its ranks. His response, “”Yeah, I’m free, and ready to do me. But it’s still Dipset for life. It’s just going to be a new chapter.”

Bow Wow has made amends with his producer pal Jermaine Dupri and is desperate to feature the hip-hop mogul on his upcoming LP – in one form or another.

The 21-year-old MC is currently in the midst of recording his new album Pedigree, and Bow Wow is confident mentor Dupri will be making a guest appearance on the project after the pair settled a previous dispute over creative control.

Former 2 Live Crew frontman Luther Campbell wed fiance Kristin Thompson in Dallas, Texas last weekend.
The pair exchanged vows before 300 guests, including rapper Doug E. Fresh, who DJ’d at the reception.

The newlyweds met two years ago at a delicatessen in Florida, and Campbell, 47, proposed last Halloween

Rap mogul Sean ‘Diddy’ Combs is planning to wed a woman 18 years his junior after reportedly proposing to sexy singer Cassie.

America’s Star magazine is reporting that Diddy, 39, has asked the 21-year-old R+B star, real name Cassandra Ventura, to be his wife.