Ellen DeGeneres isn’t being sued, but her show is.

A handful of the biggest record labels welcomed new American Idol judge Ellen DeGeneres into the music biz with an unpleasant gift: They sued her daytime talk show The Ellen DeGeneres Show over copyrights.

The labels allege that Ellen’s show has broadcast over 1,000 songs during the “dance over” segment of the show — when Ellen dances through the audience while moving from stage to stage — without ever paying for the licenses.

Wow!

Per papers filed at a U.S. District Court in Nashville on September 9th, when the labels asked the Ellen show producers how come they never sought to acquire permission to use the songs, the defendants replied that they didn’t “roll that way.”

“As sophisticated consumers of music, Defendants knew full well that, regardless of the way they rolled, under the Copyright Act, and under state law for the pre-1972 recordings, they needed a license to use the sound recordings lawfully,” the suit states.

Michael Jackson’s “Thriller” and the Beach Boys’ “Good Vibrations” are just two of the literally hundreds of songs the show used without permission. So the show might owe quite a bit of money, though terms of the lawsuit weren’t revealed.

A rep for the Ellen DeGeneres Show said they hoped to reach “amicable and reasonable terms” with the record labels.

Ironically, one of the companies suing the Ellen DeGeneres Show is Sony Music Group, home to both RCA and Jive Records — where Idols usually land if they’re successful on the show. Still, it seems that it was just coincidence that the lawsuit was filed on the same day as DeGeneres was named the new judge on American Idol, as the record companies and the Ellen show were reportedly working on resolving the issue.

Ellen DeGeneres has signed on to replace Paula Abdul on American Idol.

“I’m thrilled to be the new judge on American Idol,” DeGeneres said. “I’ve watched since the beginning, and I’ve always been a huge fan. So getting this job is a dream come true, and think of all the money I’ll save from not having to text in my vote.”

“DeGeneres will sit next to Simon Cowell, Randy Jackson and Kara DioGuardi and offer her own unique perspective to the contestants throughout the competition,” Fox television says in a statement.

DeGeneres, 51, will begin judging after the audition rounds, which have featured a rotating group of celebrity guest judges including Shania Twain, Victoria Beckham, Mary J. Blige, Joe Jonas and Kristin Chenoweth.

What about her daytime talk show? DeGeneres says she’s not giving that up.

“I’m going to have a day job and a night job,” she says. “The times we’re living in … we’re all doing that.”

Of picking Ellen, executive producer Simon Fuller says: “I could not be more excited to have Ellen join the American Idol family. Ellen has been a fan of the show for many years, and her love of music and understanding of the American public will bring a unique human touch to our judging panel. I can’t wait for this next season to begin.”

 

David Beckham is a sentimental fellow. The British soccer star, who already has many tattoos, is got some new ink in honor of his 10th wedding anniversary to Victoria Beckham.

He told Ellen DeGeneres in an interview for the season premiere of her talk show that he got 10 roses around his arm “for the 10 years.”

Beckham, 34, says that his wife loves his romantic gestures.

“I always seem to do pretty well. She always seems to be happy with the gifts that I get her. We always try to do special things for each other.

“It’s not always about buying gifts for each other. We just make sure that we spend time together or go for dinner together. That is important to us.”

I’m guessing Lindsay Lohan is back into boys. A chick showing that much boobie is trying to attract male attention.

Lohan is going to be on The Ellen Show tomorrow. I’ll watch (of course) but Ellen doesn’t exactly ask tough questions and Lindsay still seems to be in denial about her issues.

Diddy was on The Ellen DeGeneres Show yesterday and he got a little defensive when answering a question about why he let girl beater Chris Brown and the girl he beat, Rihanna, shack up at his Miami home. Diddy and Ellen didn’t argue, but it got uncomfortable for a minute.

According to various reports, Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi want a baby!

An insider tells Star magazine, “They would love a boy. But would truly be happy with any healthy baby.” Adding that Portia “is prepared to go through it [IVF] 10 times if she has to. Whatever it takes to get pregnant, she’ll do it. She’s been changing her eating habits. Her goal is to gain a few pounds before they start the IVF process.”

I wonder who the sperm donor will be!

We’d love to hear about Ellen’s adventures as a mother!

 

Ellen DeGeneres and Portia de Rossi celebrated Ellen’s 51st birthday last night at Chateau Marmont. The happy couple enjoyed a delicious meal and smiled and held hands as they passed the paparazzi.

We thought Aretha Franklin looked like a giant Christmas present at President Obama’s inauguration yesterday.

Funny lady Ellen DeGeneres must have had similar thoughts because she wore an over-the-top hat similar to the one that Franklin wore to the historic inauguration.

Tee hee!

We heard Ellen DeGeneres mention on her show that she and wife Portia De Rossi had a vegan menu at their wedding.  Now, the couple is talking about their total vegan lifestyle, which the couple adopted just last year.

Portia explains:

Since vegans don’t believe in wearing leather, has Ellen given up her much-loved tennis shoes? Ellen has a style of her own and she is known for having LOTS of pairs of leather tennis shoes. I’ll have to start paying closer attention on her show to see if I can tell if she is wearing leather shoes or not. Interesting!

The 35th Annual People’s Choice Awards saw “The Dark Knight” pull off a clean sweep, raking in all five awards for which it was nominated. Held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles, the star-studded affair also saw performer Carrie Underwood grab three awards while Tina Fey, Will Smith, Brad Pitt, Angelina Jolie, Katherine Heigl, Reese Witherspoon, Christina Applegate and Robin Williams all went home winners, as well.

Here is the complete list of winners for the 2009 People’s Choice Awards.

Movie: “The Dark Knight”

Family movie: “WALL-E”

Action movie: “The Dark Knight”

Comedy movie: “27 Dresses”

Drama movie: “The Secret Life of Bees”

Independent movie: “The Secret Life of Bees”

Favorite cast: “The Dark Knight”

Male movie star: Will Smith

Leading man: Brad Pitt

Male action star: Will Smith

Female movie star: Reese Witherspoon

Leading lady: Kate Hudson

Female action star: Angelina Jolie

On-screen matchup: Christian Bale and Heath Ledger, “The Dark Knight”

Superhero: Christian Bale as Batman, “The Dark Knight”

TV drama: “House”

TV comedy: “Two and a Half Men”

TV animated comedy: “The Simpsons”

Sci-fi/fantasy show: “Heroes”

Reality show: “Dancing With the Stars”

Game show: “Deal or No Deal”

Male TV star: Hugh Laurie

Female TV star: Christina Applegate

Talk show host: Ellen DeGeneres

Scene-stealing guest star: Robin Williams, “Law & Order: Special Victims Unit”

TV drama diva: Kyra Sedgwick as Brenda Johnson, “The Closer”

New TV comedy: “Gary Unmarried”

New TV drama: “The Mentalist”

Male singer: Chris Brown

Female singer: Carrie Underwood

Group: Rascal Flatts

R&B song: Alicia Keys, “No One”

Pop song: Katy Perry, “I Kissed a Girl”

Rock song: Kid Rock, “All Summer Long”

Country song: Carrie Underwood, “Last Name”

Hip-hop song: Flo Rida featuring T-Pain, “Low”

Combined forces: Jordin Sparks featuring Chris Brown, “No Air”

Song from a soundtrack: “Mamma Mia” from “Mamma Mia!”

Funny male star: Adam Sandler

Funny female star: Tina Fey

Star under 35: Carrie Underwood

Online sensation: “Dr. Horrible’s Sing-Along Blog”

User-generated video: “Barack Roll”