Briefly: MP3Board, De La Soul, Britney Spears, 5ive, Badfinger

MP3Board.com--currently embroiled in a copyright-infringement lawsuit with the Recording Industry Association of America--has, according to a CNet.com report, devised a new strategy as part of its defense: blame AOL.

In a complaint filed on Monday (8/23), MP3Board.com has reportedly claimed that, should it be found guilty of copyright infringement, AOL-Time Warner should share the blame, since many of the MP3s found by searching MP3Board.com's site are results from Gnutella, which was created by an AOL-subsidiary.

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De La Soul will make its first U.K. appearance in over two years on Monday (8/28) at London's Notting Hill Carnival, where they will perform a set and also have a float in the parade. A spokesperson for the group's label Tommy Boy told SoundSpike that the band hopes to bring its successful Spitkicker tour to the U.K. at the beginning of 2001.

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Britney Spears will give advice as an online "Agony Aunt" for teenagers on the BBC's "So..." website until Sept. 8.

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The Cleveland Free Times printed this statistic:

Number of fan websites:
Britney: 176
Christina: 156

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British boy band 5ive has deserted its current Asian tour after Abs Breen, Scott Robinson and Ritchie Neville were struck with "exhaustion," an RCA spokesperson told SoundSpike.

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Launch reported that Badfinger frontman Joey Molland fell off a stage in Washington state and fractured his leg. The band said it has no plans to cancel any shows.