A judge on Monday rejected a request to block a San Jose State women’s volleyball team member from playing in a conference tournament on grounds that she is transgender. Monday’s ruling by U.S. Magistrate Judge S. Kato Crews in Denver will allow the player, who has played all season, to continue competing in the Mountain West Conference women’s championship scheduled for later this week in Las Vegas. The ruling comes after a lawsuit was filed by nine current players who are suing the Mountain West Conference to challenge the league’s policies for allowing transgender players to participate. The players argued that letting her compete was a safety risk and unfair. While some media have reported those and other details, neither San Jose State nor the forfeiting teams have confirmed the school has a trans women’s volleyball player. The Associated Press is withholding the player’s name because she has not publicly commented on her gender identity. School officials also have declined an interview request with the player. Judge Crews referred to the athlete as an “alleged transgender” player in his ruling and noted that no defendant disputed that San Jose State rosters a transgender woman volleyball player. He said the players who filed the complaint could have sought relief much earlier, noting that the individual universities had acknowledged that not playing their games against San Jose State this season would result in a forfeit in league standings. He also said injunctions are meant to preserve the status quo. The conference policy regarding forfeiting for refusing to play against a team with a transgender player had been in effect since 2022 and the San Jose State player has been on the roster since 2022 – making that the status quo. The player competed at the college level three previous seasons, including two for San Jose State, drawing little attention. This season’s awareness of her identity led to an uproar among some players, pundits, parents and politicians in a political campaign year. The tournament starts Wednesday and continues Friday and Saturday. San Jose State is seeded second. The judge's order maintains the seedings and pairings for the tournament. Several teams refused to play against San Jose State during the season, earning losses in the official standings. Boise State and Wyoming each had two forfeits while Utah State and Nevada both had one. Southern Utah, a member of the Western Athletic Conference, was first to cancel against San Jose State this year. Nevada’s players stated they “refuse to participate in any match that advances injustice against female athletes,” without providing further details. Crews served as a magistrate judge in Colorado’s U.S. District Court for more than five years before President Joe Biden appointed him to serve as a federal judge in January of this year. ____ Gruver reported from Cheyenne, Wyoming, and Hanson from Helena, Montana. Mead Gruver And Amy Beth Hanson (), The Associated PressThe value of global music copyright surged to $45.5 billion in 2023, marking an 11% increase from the previous year. This reflects the growing economic strength of music rights, which were valued at $25 billion in 2014. If current trends continue, music copyright could double in value over a decade. Record Labels And Streaming: Key Drivers Of Growth According to economist Will Page ‘s annual industry report ( via Billboard), record labels accounted for the largest share of the music copyright market, generating $28.5 billion in 2023—a 21% year-over-year increase. See Also: Apple Music Launched A $450 Limited-Edition Coffee Table Book: ‘100 Best Albums’ Streaming continued to dominate revenue sources, with a 10.4% growth rate. Physical music sales also performed strongly, as vinyl sales rose 15.4%, outpacing CDs in many regions. Page predicted vinyl could become a $3 billion industry by 2028, driven by higher unit prices and global demand. Major publicly traded record labels such as Universal Music Group NV UMGNF , Warner Music Group Corp WMG , and Sony Group Corp ‘s SONY Sony Music Entertainment were among the primary beneficiaries of these trends. UMG, for instance, reported $3.2 billion in Q3 2024 revenue, showing strong performance fueled by streaming and physical sales. Shifting Dynamics In Songwriter Royalties Moreover, collective management organizations (CMOs), which collect royalties on behalf of songwriters and publishers, saw revenues rise by 11% to $12.9 billion in 2023. Digital collections from CMOs have now surpassed those from broadcast and radio, reflecting the dominance of streaming platforms over traditional media. However, publishers are increasingly turning to direct licensing agreements, bypassing CMOs to avoid administrative delays and fees. "A song that spikes in mid-March, for example, takes 201 days to pay the artist and 383 days to pay the songwriter," Page explained. These delays can erode a third of songwriter revenue due to transaction costs. Music Surpasses Cinema The music industry's recovery following the pandemic has enabled it to overtake cinema in terms of economic output. In 2023, music was 38% larger than cinema, a stark contrast to 2019 when cinema led by 33%. Music copyright figures reflect trade revenue that benefits rights holders, while cinema's $33.2 billion box office revenues are divided between distribution and production. Companies like Live Nation Entertainment LYV , which operate in recorded music and live performance sectors, have capitalized on this momentum. Streaming’s Global Trade Advantage Streaming platforms have created new opportunities for artists from regions with lower royalty rates. North America and Europe, which account for 80% of streaming revenue growth, provide significantly higher payouts compared to Latin America and Asia. For example, Colombian artists like J. Balvin and Shakira earned nearly $100 million from U.S. streams in 2023, six times what they would have generated in their home country. Publicly traded streaming platforms such as Spotify Technology SA SPOT and Tencent Music Entertainment TME play a crucial role in this dynamic. Spotify benefits from premium subscription revenues in high-value markets, while Tencent Music caters to large audiences in Asia with a range of streaming and social entertainment services. Read Next: Spotify Stock Climbs Despite Q3 EPS Miss, Revenue Beat (CORRECTED) Cover image made using artificial intelligence via Dall-E. © 2024 Benzinga.com. Benzinga does not provide investment advice. All rights reserved.Article content QUEBEC — Premier François Legault says he’s uncomfortable seeing people praying in public and places such as parks and his government is examining ways to ban it — even if it requires use of the notwithstanding clause to override fundamental rights. On the same day Education Minister Bernard Drainville announced Quebec will table new legislation reinforcing the rules of secularism in schools that will go beyond Bill 21, Legault used his news conference wrapping up the sitting of the legislature to again dip into the theme of identity politics. He said Quebec made a decision years ago to be a secular state and people today are “a bit fed up” to see displays of faith like people praying in the street. “I think we have to make the difference between public places and praying in a church or a mosque,” Legault said. “You should pray in a place that’s for praying, but in public parks or public streets ... we’ll look at what we can do, but that’s not what we want. “We will look at the means we can use, legally or otherwise.” Pressed by reporters on how he would proceed and whether that could entail use of the Constitution’s notwithstanding clause to override fundamental rights, Legault answered in the blink of an eye. “Right now we’re studying all options,” he said. “I don’t have all the answers. It’s something we’re looking at.” “So you’re not saying it’s a no,” a reporter asked. “I’m not saying it’s a no,” Legault answered. It’s the farthest Legault has gone down the path of banning public displays of religion. In June 2019, shortly after coming to power, his Coalition Avenir Québec government adopted Bill 21, which barred persons in positions of authority such as teachers and police officers from wearing religious symbols in public. The government used the notwithstanding clause to shield the law from court challenges, but some groups are nevertheless trying to overturn it. The law, however, did not stretch as far as the public domain. Some jurisdictions have gone much further on religious restrictions than Quebec. Since April 2011, for example, France has imposed a ban on full-face veils in public areas. But at a news conference where he said the taxpayer’s pocketbook and identity issues are his current priorities, Legault agreed when asked whether he considers praying in public an issue. “To see people, on their knees, in the street, praying ... we have to ask ourselves the question. I don’t think it’s something we should see.” He said in the wake of such controversies as the emergence of religion in schools, Quebec needs to “send a clear message to Islamists.” “We will fight for the fundamental values we have in Quebec, like the equality of men and women,” he said. “We will never accept that people don’t respect these values.” He went further. Following the presentation this fall of a report suggesting Quebec equip itself with its own constitution , Legault said the idea interests him. He said Quebec could entrench in the constitution certain Quebec values that Quebecers hold dearly: laicity, the equality of men and women, the importance of integrating new arrivals. He said he has asked Justice Minister Simon Jolin-Barrette to get working on the constitution. Asked when he wanted to see the plan, Legault said: “The sooner the better.” His comments come at the end of a session that, as was the case in 2023, was mired in controversy and setbacks. Into the second half of its second mandate, the CAQ struggled to stay on message despite numerous distractions, including trying to manage a record $11-billion deficit. Legault’s session started in September with the surprise resignation of his star minister of the economy, Pierre Fitzgibbon, who said he no longer felt motivated enough to continue. His departure creates a fresh headache for Legault, who will have to call a byelection in the riding of Terrebonne at a time when the CAQ is way behind the PQ in the polls. That was followed two weeks later by the departure of St-Jérôme MNA Yourri Chassin to sit as an independent. In leaving he took shots at his old party, saying it has lost its way, falling into the trap of thinking the best way to solve problems is by shovelling more money at them. Things seemed to just get worse when the government’s landmark economic deal, Northvolt , hit financial turbulence with speculation the plant it has promised for Montreal’s South Shore might never be built. In the traditional season’s greetings exchanged with the other leaders as the session ended, Legault made a joke about the mess. “Last year I asked for a compass for Christmas,” Legault quipped. “This year I feel like asking for a battery. Here’s hoping Santa Claus does not go bankrupt.” But without exception, a series of polls showed the CAQ trailing the PQ and confidence in the government at a low ebb. One Pallas poll done for L’Actualité showed 53 per cent of Quebecers think Legault should resign rather than seek a third mandate. He defiantly responded, saying he guaranteed Quebecers he will run again . On Friday, he said he does not feel “pushed” in any way toward retirement and is even drawing energy from U.S. president-elect Donald Trump’s threat of a 25-per-cent tariff on Quebec and Canadian goods. That is what concerns him, “not my election in 2026,” Legault said. “I say to myself, I had Covid and now I have Donald Trump,” he said. On the positive side, he said under his leadership Quebecers on average today have more disposable income than they did a year earlier. The government is also over the hump of negotiating a contract with public-sector workers. Things were not all rosy for the opposition parties, either. As was the case in 2023, Québec solidaire was mired in an internal caucus crisis after Maurice-Richard MNA Haroun Bouazzi sparked a controversy by saying some MNAs in the legislature were racist. With QS co-spokesperson Gabriel Nadeau-Dubois on parental leave, new party co-spokesperson Ruba Ghazal handled the end-of-session news conference on Friday. She insisted that “contrary to appearances,” QS remains united. Parti Québécois Leader Paul St-Pierre Plamondon said he’s hoping the looming Terrebonne byelection to replace Fitzgibbon brings a fifth PQ MNA into the fold. Interim Liberal leader Marc Tanguay ripped into the CAQ and Legault, describing the government as “at the end of its runway.” “Mr. Legault is in his seventh year in office and in a free fall,” Tanguay said, noting the Liberals are rebuilding with a new leader to take his place in 2025. Many of the 18 bills adopted dated back to June, but several key pieces of legislation remain a work in progress. Among them is Bill 69 on the governance of energy, which remains on the order paper but was not adopted. When presented by former Economy and Energy Minister Fitzgibbon in June 2024, the bill was considered priority legislation for the government. After Fitzgibbon resigned, his replacement, Christine Fréchette, took on defending the bill, but it never made it past the consultation process. Last week, Fréchette blamed the lack of movement on the arrival of U.S. president-elect Donald Trump. She said his posture on tariffs, which would affect Quebec’s energy exports, has changed many of the givens of the bill. The legislature resumes sitting on Jan. 28, 2025. pauthier@postmedia.com X.com/philipauthier
A proposal to ban a transgender Montana lawmaker from using the women’s bathroom in the state's capitol building failed on Tuesday. The proposed amendment, introduced by Republican Rep. Jerry Schillinger of Circle, would have required state legislators to use restrooms based on their biological sex at birth. The amendment needed to receive a majority from House members and Senate members on the joint rules committee to advance. It got enough votes to pass on the Senate side, but not the House. Rep. Zooey Zephyr, D-Missoula, was Montana’s first openly transgender female lawmaker. Rep. SJ Howell, D-Missoula, was the first nonbinary lawmaker. Both were first elected in 2022 and reelected this year. RELATED STORY | Montana transgender lawmaker on Capitol Hill's bathroom ban: 'Do not cede ground' On social media, Zephyr thanked her colleagues — particularly her republican colleagues — who she said “recognized this as a distraction from the work we were elected to do.” Rep. David Bedey, R-Hamilton, one of four Republicans to vote against the proposal, said, “This particular action will have the effect of making people famous in the national news and will not contribute to the effective conduct of our business." This comes after some intense moments last month in Washington after a Republican representative from South Carolina proposed a similar ban on Capitol Hill ahead of the first openly transgender member of Congress, Rep. Sarah McBride, D-Delaware, taking office next year. RELATED STORY | Justices seemingly unmoved to overturn transgender health care ban for minors
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Today’s seasonal offering concerns dates we can’t remember and those we can’t forget, starting with May 19, 1962, when Marilyn Monroe sang “Happy Birthday” to U.S. President John F. Kennedy during a Madison Square Garden party to celebrate JFK’s 45th birthday. Less than three months later, on Aug. 4, 1962, Marilyn died, in a widely speculated tragedy covered in the 2022 book, ”Bombshell: The Night Bobby Kennedy Killed Marilyn Monroe,” by Mike Rothmiller and Douglas Thompson. Rothmiller, a respected Los Angeles law enforcement officer, has first-hand knowledge about the demise of arguably the sexiest symbol in U.S. history. Unless he lied, he was nearby. Marilyn, obviously a key modern Hollywood figure, was affiliated with J.F.K., his brother Robert F. Kennedy Sr., and their brother-in-law, the cad, Peter Lawford. Read the book. Thursday, Nov. 21, 1963, is another red-letter day in the House of Adams. Enterprise’s Wildcats were scheduled to play in Eufaula the next night and the late Bob McMillan, as usual, conducted band practice in R.L. Bates Memorial Stadium. Your scribe and the late Susan Harrison, not marching in the halftime performance rescheduled from earlier that season, were perched atop the women’s restroom waiting for rehearsal to begin when Mr. McMillan summoned your scribe. Immediately that meant someone missed school that day and this terrified eighth-grade saxist thought he’d get one practice before that night’s performance in the guest band at Coffee Springs High School’s game against Zion Chapel. “You don’t need your horn,” Mr. McMillan explained to this lad, who immediately then thought he might, horrors, twirl a baton midway through the Golden Bears game. “Go up to Mr. (EHS principal) Zeanah’s office, have him call Coffee Springs to see if they line their field off in 5- or 10-yard increments and hurry back,” McMillan directed. The field bore the traditional five-yard grid. Hmmm. At the Springs after halftime, we bandsters were given a Coke and a hotdog by always cordial CSHS people, who didn’t know the night’s two substitutes couldn’t swallow mayonnaise-swabbed hotdogs. Our two ’dogs were reportedly still under the schoolhouse when it burned years later. It’d be all but impossible to find a Baby Boomer who’s forgotten a detail about Friday, Nov. 22, 1963, the controversial day JFK was assassinated in Dallas. Hmmm. On Monday, November 26, your scribe discovered Fritos. Another late November day remains controversial. On Nov. 29, 1981, Natalie Wood, 43, mysteriously drowned off Santa Catalina Island when she allegedly fell into the Pacific Ocean off the 60-foot yacht, Splendour. Supposedly, Natalie’s husband Robert Wagner, actor Christopher Walken and the boat’s captain didn’t see/hear Natalie, who couldn’t swim, fall into the water and/or cry for help. The mysterious death nagged Natalie’s sister Lana to write, “Little Sister: My Investigation into the Mysterious Death of Natalie Wood,” released Nov. 9, 2021. Again, to keep from spoiling another book, please know Wagner and Kirk Douglas movies are rarely screened in the HoA’s Big Moroccan Theater, and Walken appears only in “Jersey Boys” and is seen through just one eye. Ditto for Lawford’s movies, except for “It Happened in Brooklyn,” which starred Jimmy Durante and Marilyn’s friend, Frank Sinatra. Hmmm. Now, you may want to keep your eye on RFK Jr.’s claims about popular breakfast cereals that recently stunned social media. Happy holidays ... Ricky Adams Tragedies recalled, from Marilyn Monroe to Natalie Wood. Be the first to know Get local news delivered to your inbox!How to Choose the Best Gaming Monitor for Your PC Setup
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