Copyright fight for The Big Bang Theory

Pawan Singh / The National

San Francisco City Attorney’s office via AP

Richard Shotwell / Invision / AP

Courtesy of IANS

The heirs to Edith Newlin, who wrote a poem about a "soft kitty" eight decades ago, said the television show The Big Bang Theory is violating their copyrights. Newlin's daughters sued CBS and other media-­related companies over the ­copyright to a song that has repeatedly been used on the hit sitcom. According to the lawsuit, The Big Bang Theory – one of the ­highest-rated shows on television – used lyrics written by Newlin in the 1930s without buying the rights. The Big Bang Theory characters have periodically sung a ­lullaby involving that phrase, often to comfort theoretical physicist Sheldon Cooper, played by Jim ­Parsons. The daughters' lawsuit, seeking unspecified damages from the show's producers and distributors, says the "soft kitty" lyrics have been used in their entirety on at least eight episodes of the show since March 2008. It says the lyrics also have been used in merchandising. – AP

Stars to perform at PBL opening

Bollywood actress ­Jacqueline Fernandez and music composers Salim Merchant and Sulaiman Merchant will perform at the opening ceremony for the Premier Badminton League (PBL) in Mumbai on ­Saturday. ­Fernandez will perform ­several dance numbers and this will be followed by the Merchant brothers ­performing the PBL anthem. PBL chairman Akhilesh Das Gupta says: "The PBL will have the required glitz and glamour through this ­opening ­ceremony and will be followed by the high-­intense sporting battles. I welcome both Jacqueline Fernandez and Salim-­Sulaiman and look forward to their performance which will make the event ­memorable." The six-team PBL runs from Saturday to January 17. – IANS

Bieber graffiti an eyesore

San Francisco's city attorney is demanding that Justin Bieber's music ­publisher help determine who is ­responsible for the ­pavement graffiti promoting the pop star's latest album. City attorney Dennis Herrera said the graffiti appears to have been applied with spray paint that has not come off even after the recent rainstorms. That contrasts with other recent pavement ­marketing campaigns that have used chalk, according to ­Herrera. Herrera said public works crews have removed some of the graffiti at great ­expense, although he did not ­provide a figure. The ­graffiti ­promoting Bieber's new album, Purpose, has been found in Haight-Ashbury and other neighbourhoods. – AP

Chita Rivera injured in fall, postpones concert

Fans of American actress, dancer and singer Chita ­Rivera will have to wait a ­little longer to see her ­perform at Cafe Carlyle in New York in 2016. She ­postponed her show after being injured in a fall over the Christmas holidays. Rivera was to appear at the legendary venue between January 12 and 23. She will now take the stage from April 19 to 30 as she recovers from a pelvic stress fracture. Rivera says in a statement: "I'm so sorry that I must postpone these dates at the Cafe Carlyle and ­disappoint my fans, but we will ­reschedule and I'll be back!" The two-time Tony winner and Kennedy Center honoree was last seen on ­Broadway in The Visit and has also starred in West Side ­Story, Chicago, and Kiss of the Spider Woman. – AP

Amitash Pradhan excited about Hollywood debut

Indian actor Amitash Pradhan has landed a role in the upcoming dance-based film Heartbeats, which will be directed by Duane Adler, who wrote the Step Up franchise. Calling it a "Bollywood meets hip-hop" musical, Pradhan said he is honoured to be training with the best dancers in the business. "It's such an honour to be associated with choreographers such as Tessandra Chavez and Shampa Gopikrishna, who had worked in [the recently released period drama] Bajirao Mastani," he said. Heartbeats is about a female American hip-hop dancer who travels to the subcontinent for a wedding and falls in love with a man who introduces her to Bollywood-style dance. The film, which will be shot extensively in India, is produced by Sriram Das and Karine Martin. Streaming service Dance Network is also part of the project. – IANS