Nu-metal group Limp Bizkit has filed a lawsuit against its label Universal Music Group, alleging that the company deliberately withheld at least $200 million in unpaid royalties.
The suit, filed today in Los Angeles’ Central District, claims that despite a growing resurgence in the band’s popularity, UMG has failed to pay them what they’re owed. The group, led by Fred Durst, alleges that the company in fact never intended to pay them and “designed and implemented royalty software and systems that were deliberately designed to conceal artists’ royalties and keep those profits for itself.”
Limp Bizkit, which hit the peak of its popularity in the late 1990s and early 2000s, claims that it’s not the only group to be stiffed on royalties and that possibly hundreds of other artists have also suffered a similar fate.
Universal Music Group declined to comment on the lawsuit, while the band’s legal representatives stated that the complaint speaks for itself.
The complaint, reviewed by Variety, asserts that Durst got new legal representation in April 2024 and explained to them that he’d never received money for Limp Bizkit exploitations. The suit claims that UMG told Durst and representatives that royalty payments were withheld on account of approximately $43 million that they spent on the band over the years that they hadn’t yet recouped.
Durst contacted the former owner of Flip Records, which initially signed the band in 1996 prior to the Interscope deal in Dec. 2000, who told him that Flip was receiving millions of dollars due to recent renewed interest in the band. Durst, meanwhile, had received nothing.
The band claims that over the past year, its assets have grown 68 percent while in years prior they had steadily grown by 30 to 40 percent. But despite the surge in popularity, which they point out occurred without releasing new music, the company has willfully deceived them.
Durst seeks to void its contracts with UMG on behalf of Limp Bizkit and his own Flawless Records. The group is suing for breach of contract, fraudulent concealment, copyright infringement and more.
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