Entertainment News Roundp: R. Kelly makes first NY court appearance; Judge releases A$AP Rocky from custody and more

Following is a summary of current entertainment news briefs.

Katy Perry and record label hit with $2.7 million copyright judgment

A Christian rapper was awarded $2.7 million on Thursday by a Los Angeles jury that found that Katy Perry's 2013 hit "Dark Horse" contained a musical passage from one of his songs. The verdict, reported by Los Angeles City News Service, followed a copyright trial in which Marcus Gray, known as Flame, said the beat in his song "Joyful Noise" was lifted and used in Perry's single.

Readers line up for copy of British Vogue edited by UK's Duchess Meghan

Royal-loving readers queued up on Friday to buy the new edition of the British Vogue magazine which was guest edited by Meghan, the Duchess of Sussex and wife of Britain's Prince Harry. Meghan, who gave birth to her first child in May, spent seven months working with the magazine's editor-in-chief Edward Enninful for the September issue which featured 15 women she considered "Forces for Change" on the cover.

Singer R. Kelly makes first New York court appearance on sex trafficking charges

Singer R. Kelly is expected to plead not guilty in New York on Friday to charges that he ran a criminal scheme in which he recruited women and underage girls to have sex with him, isolating them and often controlling what they ate and when they went to the bathroom. Federal prosecutors in Brooklyn say that Kelly and his entourage invited women and girls backstage after concerts, kept them from friends and family and made them dependent on him financially.

Judge releases A$AP Rocky from custody until assault trial verdict

The Swedish judge in the assault trial of U.S. rapper A$AP Rocky and two of his entourage ordered that the three men be released from custody on Friday until the verdict. Senior District Court Judge Per Lennerbrant told the court at the end of the three-day trial that he would hand down the verdict on Aug. 14.

Actor with Down syndrome inspires and stars in Hollywood film

The critically acclaimed new movie "The Peanut Butter Falcon" took an unusual path to Hollywood and has made an unlikely star of Zack Gottsagen, an actor who has Down syndrome. Gottsagen plays the leading role of a young man who escapes from the nursing home where he is living to pursue his dream of becoming a professional wrestler. On his travels, he becomes friends with a small-time crook portrayed by "Transformers" star Shia LaBeouf. Dakota Johnson co-stars as a nurse sent to find Gottsagen's character.

(With inputs from agencies.)