Limp Bizkit Sues Universal Music for $200 Million Over Royalties Dispute

Limp Bizkit is going on the legal offense and has now issued a lawsuit against Universal Music.

The band is suing Universal Music Group for damages related to unpaid royalties, claiming the company intentionally conceals royalties from its artists.

Yahoo reports that Fred Durst and his bandmates are seeking $20 million in damages, however, they claim that the total amount owed to them by Universal could "easily surpass" $200 million.

While Limp Bizkit was popular during the late '90s and early '00s, the band claims that they have had a resurgence in popularity that has resulted in "millions of streaming users per month," "selling out arenas" and "headlining major festivals" despite having not produced "any new music."

Despite their newfound popularity, the band alleges that Universal hasn't upheld itself as a "pro artist" company in terms of compensation for royalties paid to them over the years. Limp Bizkit also allege that the entity covered the finances for the band to work on new music, but never paid the group back their royalties once UMG had recovered its investment.

"Plaintiffs have discovered that, contrary to these claims, not only did UMG never have any intention of paying Plaintiffs, it designed and implemented royalty software and systems that were deliberately designed to conceal artist's royalties and keep those profits for itself," the court documents read, according to Yahoo.

"Indeed, Plaintiffs allege that amounts will easily surpass $200 million," the lawsuit continued.

Elsewhere in the documents, it is alleged that UMG told Durst's representatives that approximately $43 million still needs to be paid in order for Durst to get any royalties. Because of this representatives for Durst were allegedly told that there would not be any royalties because UMG wasn't "required to provide them since his account was so far from recoupment."

However, Durst's team says it found out that the band's original label, Flip Records, has secured millions from profit-sharing with Universal Music Group.

In total, UMG is being accused of rescission, violating a contract recording agreement, fraudulent concealment, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional misrepresentation, negligent misrepresentation and copyright infringement.

Durst has gone on to request that a jury trial be given in order to resolve this matter.

Tags

Fred durst, Limp Bizkit