Limp Bizkit, Fred Durst, and Flawless Records—the document label totally owned through Durst—are suing Universal Music Group for over $2 hundred million that they claim they’re owed in unpaid royalties, consistent with a lawsuit considered by using Pitchfork. Filed in the U.S.
District Court for the Central District of California, the healthy states that on account of Limp Bizkit’s recent resurgence in reputation, the band and label have not been paid any of the track streaming royalties that they’re owed for nearly half a thousand million streams.
Durst seeks to void all contracts with UMG on behalf of Limp Bizkit and Flawless Records. Together, all 3 are suing for breach of contract, fraudulent concealment, and copyright infringement, amongst other problems. Pitchfork has contacted representatives for Limp Bizkit and Universal Music Group for remark.
As outlined inside the lawsuit, Limp Bizkit’s property has visible a consistent growth of 30-40% with every 12 months due to the fact that 2017—no matter, as they are aware, the truth that the band hasn’t released any new music—and surged to about 68% inside the past year on my own. “Despite this extraordinary ‘come back,’ the band had still no longer been paid an unmarried cent by UMG in any royalties till taking motion against UMG,” reads the lawsuit.
“Not handiest did UMG never have any goal of paying Plaintiffs; it designed and carried out royalty software programs and systems that were intentionally designed to hide artists’ (which includes Plaintiffs’) royalties and maintain those incomes for itself. On records and notion, Plaintiffs’ discovery of UMG’s layout flaw in its royalty software program is systemic and impacts no longer most effective Plaintiffs but probable hundreds of different artists who’ve unfairly had their royalties wrongfully withheld for years.”
After hiring a new legal illustration in April 2024, Durst defined that Limp Bizkit hadn’t been receiving money for his or her royalties due to the fact that UMG claimed it was withheld to recoup approximately $30,000 that the business enterprise spent at the band through the years.
Durst didn’t enhance suspicion till the previous proprietor of Flip Records—the label that signed Limp Bizkit in 1996 before Interscope signed a brand new deal with them in 2000—informed him that Flip Records had acquired “thousands and thousands of greenbacks” from the band’s belongings in recent years through UMG.
“In reviewing the documents Plaintiffs had access to, they observed that UMG had not provided a detailed accounting of its alleged recoupment expenses, had claimed recoupment costs for a particularly long time, and hadn’t issued any royalty statements in any respect for certain durations, inclusive of those throughout which Limp Bizkit turned into selling millions of albums,” reads the lawsuit.
Notably, it claims that UMG didn’t issue royalty statements from 1997-2004—the peak of Limp Bizkit’s fame in terms of report profits, radio play, and extra.
UMG statements showed that Limp Bizkit’s 2005 album Greatest Hitz didn’t generate “any great royalties payable to the band” because of unrecouped losses as these days as the deliver-up of 2022. Additionally, the lawsuit claims that UMG failed to offer royalty statements for Limp Bizkit’s fourth album, as well as their tune movies utilising the Master Recordings throughout “giant durations of time.
FAQ
1. What was more alarming was Limp Bizkit suing Universal Music Group?
Limp Bizkit is suing Universal Music Group for $200 million, claiming that the label has not paid royalties for the song since .
2. What is Limp Bizkit looking for, in essence, in the case?
Limp Bizkit wants Universal Music Group to pay them $200 million for the outstanding royalty fees.
3. What exactly do unpaid royalties mean in the context of the music industry?
Unpaid royalties are discussed about the debts to artists for the use of their tune, including income, stream and other means of distribution for which the report label is accused of not having paid.
4. What was Universal Music Group’s response to Limp Bizkit’s accusations?
Up until this point, Universal Music Group hasn’t provided a very convincing response to Limp Bizket’s lawsuit.
5. But given the legal case filed against it, what could be the implication on the overall music enterprise?
It was also further postulated that if Limp Bizkit joins the band, other artists can also embark on legal movements to get their unpaid royalties, hence shaping practices in file labels across industry.
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