Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst has sued Universal Music Group (UMG) for $200 million, alleging the record company owes him millions of dollars in royalties.
That’s according to a report from Bloomberg, which said Durst filed a complaint against UMG in a federal court in California on Tuesday (October 8).
The lawsuit also seeks compensation for other artists who worked with UMG through Durst’s Flawless Records. It also asks the court to return the copyrights UMG holds on those artists’ works, Bloomberg reported.
The complaint states that Durst never received royalties from UMG, despite Limp Bizkit having sold more than 45 million records since the band signed in the 1990s with California indie Flip Records, with distribution from UMG’s Interscope.
The complaint says that, so far this year, Limp Bizkit has amassed 450 million streams, and is on track for a total of more than 793 million by year’s end.
The complaint stated that Durst and his Limp Bizkit bandmates received advances on their albums, with UMG covering recording costs, and were to start receiving royalty payments once the costs were recouped, Bloomberg reported.
UMG allegedly told Durst’s representatives that it had spent $43 million on Limp Bizkit’s music, which would have to be recovered before Durst was paid any royalties. UMG also allegedly told Durst’s team that Durst hadn’t received any royalty statements because UMG was “not required to provide them since his account was still so far from recoupment,” according to the complaint.
However, Durst’s representatives discovered that Flip Records had been paid millions through profit-sharing with UMG. When they logged on to UMG’s database to see Durst’s royalty statements, they found that more than $1 million in earnings were waiting to be paid.
When Durst’s team contacted UMG about this, the company blamed a software error, Bloomberg reports, and requested various data, including banking information.
The complaint alleges that UMG never intended to pay any royalties to Durst.
Limp Bizkit was formed in 1994 in Jacksonville, Florida, and signed to Flip and Interscope in 1997, when Interscope was part of MCA, the predecessor to NBCUniversal and Universal Music Group.
The band reached mainstream success with its 1999 sophomore album, Significant Other, and 2000’s Chocolate Starfish and the Hot Dog Flavored Water. Both albums hit No. 1 on the Billboard 200 charts in the US, and the two combined have sold some 26 million copies worldwide. Significant Other is certified 7x Platinum in the US, while Chocolate Starfish is certified 6x Platinum.Music Business Worldwide
