Universal Music Group (UMG) filed a detailed reply on December 20, 2024, strengthening its arguments to dismiss a $200 million lawsuit brought by rock band Limp Bizkit and their label Flawless Records over alleged unpaid royalties.
The reply, submitted to the US District Court for the Central District of California, addresses multiple claims made in the band’s original October 2024 lawsuit.
After filing a motion to dismiss in late November, Universal Music Group now maintains that the case should be dismissed on several key grounds.
(You can read UMG’s latest legal reply in full through here.)
Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst sued UMG in October, alleging the record company owes him millions of dollars in royalties.
The lawsuit also seeks compensation for other artists who worked with UMG through Durst’s Flawless Records and to return the copyrights UMG holds on those artists’ works.
UMG argues that the band’s attempt to rescind their recording contracts “fails as a matter of law.”
The company further argues that under both California and New York law, rescission of a royalty agreement requires “a total failure in the performance of the contract,” which they say hasn’t occurred given the “millions of dollars of advance payments” made to the band before August 2024.
UMG also addressed the band’s fraud allegations, arguing that Limp Bizkit has failed to meet the required legal standards for proving fraud.
According to Limp Bizkit’s complaint, the band sold more than 45 million records since they signed in the 1990s with California indie Flip Records, with distribution from UMG’s Interscope.
Addressing the lawsuit’s claim about delayed royalty statements, UMG pointed out that the band has had access to the company’s royalty portal and maintains audit rights to verify their payments. Durst’s representatives had earlier claimed that when Durst’s team contacted UMG about finding more than $1 million in earnings on UMG’s database waiting to be paid to Durst, UMG acknowledged it and attributed to a software error.
While UMG acknowledged that the band has been given rights “to audit Interscope’s books and records to determine whether additional royalties are owed,” the company most recently noted that “with all this information available, [Limp Bizkit] have failed to identify a single transaction that would trigger a royalty that has not been paid.”
“Simply put, this fails to state a claim,” UMG’s legal team said.
Commenting on the breach of contract claims, UMG contends that the band’s allegations are largely “speculative” and based on “suspicion.”
UMG further argues against the band’s claims of fiduciary duty, stating that the relationship between the record company and the band was purely contractual and was not sufficiently “special.”
UMG also challenges the lawsuit’s venue, arguing that a forum selection clause in a previous agreement requires the lawsuit to be heard in New York, not California. The company argues this clause remains valid despite the band’s claims of contract termination.
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 case is currently pending in the US District Court for the Central District of California, with both parties awaiting the court’s decision on the motion to dismiss.
The court’s decision on UMG’s motion could impact how artist-label disputes over royalties and contract terminations are handled in the future. If the case proceeds, it would likely involve detailed examination of decades of royalty payments and music industry accounting practices.
Music Business Worldwide
