Nu metallers Limp Bizkit are suing Universal Music for a massive $200 million over unconcealed royalties and profits. The band has accused the record label of cheating “potentially hundreds” of artists and bands. Vocalist and co-founder Fred Durst filed the suit in Los Angeles on Tuesday, the 8th of October.
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As per the papers, Universal Music (UMG) owes the band millions of dollars due to their faulty royalty system. Universal has “wrongfully defrauded (the) Plaintiffs out of millions of dollars”, and owes them “in excess” of $200 million, the legal papers read.
As Fred Durst and his band said, “UMG’s failure to issue royalty statements in particular from 1997-2004 — the height of the band’s fame and during periods in which they made record-breaking sales — with respect to its most popular albums suggests that UMG was intentionally concealing the true amount of sales, and therefore royalties, due and owing to Limp Bizkit in order to unfairly keep those profits for itself,”
Limp Bizkit claim Universal Music did not pay “a single cent ” in any royalties
Despite a huge revival in their popularity in recent years, Limp Bizkit claim they were not paid “a single cent by Universal Music in any royalties”. The statement further reads “According to UMG’s royalty statements, Plaintiffs’ accounts had been payable starting in 2019, and then fraudulently reclassified as ‘unrecouped’ to prevent payment.”
Furthermore, as per allegations, if they had not brought forward the issue, UMG would have found a way to fraudulently turn the positive accounts into negative “unrecouped” accounts, as they had done in the past. The Plaintiffs have further complained that UMG has failed to : compute their royalties, provide accurate royalty or profit statements, notify them of royalty balances and has also improperly calculated and failed to timely pay the same.
Also they have misrepresented the royalties and profits owed. And most importantly, the allegation states they have systematically designed and implemented a system to prevent the Plaintiffs from obtaining their royalties and profits.
Limp Bizkit has claimed the $200 million in general and special damages, including punitive damages and declaratory relief. Meanwhile they are also demanding a return to their copyright.
Universal Music is yet to reply to the lawsuit.
