Nu metal group Limp Bizkit has filed a lawsuit against its record label Universal Music Group, claiming the company willfully withheld at least $200 million in unpaid royalties.
The lawsuit, filed today in the Central District of Los Angeles, alleges that despite the band's growing popularity, UMG has refused to pay them what they are owed. The group, led by Fred Durst, claims that the company never actually intended to pay them and that it "designed and implemented software and copyright systems that were deliberately designed to hide artists' copyrights and keep those profits for themselves."
Limp Bizkit, who peaked in popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s, claims they are not the only band to have been harmed by copyright and that hundreds of other artists may have suffered a similar fate.
Universal Music Group declined to comment on the lawsuit, while the band's legal representatives said the lawsuit itself speaks for itself, Variety reports.
The lawsuit alleges that UMG told Durst and his representatives that royalty payments were being withheld because of the approximately $43 million they had spent on the band over the years that they had not yet recouped.
Durst contacted the former owner of Flip Records, which originally released the band's releases in 1996 before the Interscope deal in December 2000, who told him that Flip was receiving millions of dollars due to the recent renewed interest in the band. . Durst, however, did not receive any money from it.
The group claims that its assets have increased by 68 percent over the past year, while in previous years they have consistently grown by 30 to 40 percent. But despite the rise in popularity, which they point out happened without the release of new music, the company deliberately deceived them.
Durst is seeking to void his contracts with UMG on behalf of Limp Bizkit and his own label, Flawless Records. The group is suing UMG for breach of contract, fraudulent concealment, copyright infringement and other reasons.
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