International Songwriters Association (ISA) Songs And Songwriting

• Toto Cutugno, Italy's last Eurovision Song Contest winner, said it is unfortunate that his country is not taking part anymore in the competition • EMI Music Publishing, has signed an exclusive administration agreement with leading songwriter and producer Mike Elizondo • Why should songwriters starve so that the Web 2.0 kids and tech VCs get rich? Billy Bragg asked the question recently, and the downloaders and VCs quickly shot back - it's because you should be grateful that we're here! • Republican candidate John McCain may have used his song in the US presidential campaign, but veteran rock 'n' roller Chuck Berry has no doubt whom he wants to see in the White House next year • Two original members of Busted have lost their £10m royalties battle. The pair said they wrote songs with James Bourne and Matt Willis, including "Year 3000" and "What I Go To School For", when the group formed in 2001 • Former binman Andy Abraham, who came last in the Eurovision Song Contest, says he wasn’t rubbished because of racism • Yoko Ono has lost a legal bid to block the use of a 15-second clip of John Lennon's song Imagine in a film challenging the theory of evolution • West End musical "Gone With The Wind" will close later this month after only 79 performances, it has been announced • The UK could lose its guaranteed place in the Eurovision Song Contest final following criticism that the event is becoming increasingly biased against western European countries • Paul Gambaccini, the broadcaster and pop historian, is supporting Scotland’s bid to have its own Eurovision song contest entry • Dima Bilan is touring Europe following his victory in the 2008 Eurovision Song Contest for Russia with "Believe". Ukraine's Ani Lorak came second with her "Shady Lady", followed by Greece with "Secret Combination" by Kalomira • David Bowie has denied a story that he gave permission for his songs to be used in a proposed stage show inspired by his movie "The Man Who Fell To Earth" • Manager Lou Pearlman, who created the Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync, has been jailed for 25 years for a $300m fraud • A Maryland songwriter-producer has accused Kanye West of copyright infringement for failing to properly clear a sample in "The Good Life" • John Lennon's lyrics for "Give Peace A Chance" are to go under the hammer at a London auction • The children of hit country songwriter Darrell "Wayne" Perry, have dropped a wrongful death lawsuit accusing their evangelist aunt of promising to use her healing powers to cure the cancer that killed their father and then stealing an inheritance that could be worth millions • A musical based on the songs of the Bee Gees is being written for London's West End and Broadway • Songwriter Richard Fagan, who has written hits for John Michael Montgomery amongst others, has been charged with criminal homicide following the death of Gaetano Thomas "Tommy" Oteri, 69, father of Saturday Night Live cast member Cheri Oteri. Oteri, who was Fagan's manager, music publisher and roommate, was found stabbed to death inside their Nashville home • Leroy Brown, immortalised in the Jim Croce song "Big Bad Leroy Brown", may soon be the main character in an action- comedy movie based on the lyrics, to be produced by Warren Zide • New York Mets concede that their revent song contest was "rickrolled" • Robbie Williams and songwriting collaborator Guy Chambers have split again • Songwriter Pete Yarrow, has denied that his 1960s song "Puff The Magic Dragon", which was an American Number 1 for Peter Paul & Mary, was about drugs •