NEW YORK (AP) — An appellate court has ruled for music producer Dr. Luke on an important issue in his defamation suit against pop star Kesha. A New York appeals court concluded in a decision issued Thursday that the Grammy-nominated hitmaker isn’t a public figure in the eyes of the law. That matters because public figures have to meet a higher standard than everyday people do in order to prove they’ve been defamed. The decision is far from a final judgment in the long-running court clash between the multiplatinum-selling singer and the producer. She says Dr. Luke raped her. He denies it and says she smeared him with lies. The Associated Press does not generally name people who report being sexually assaulted unless they come forward publicly, as Kesha has done.
