Fred Durst and his Limp Bizkit bandmates have taken Universal Music Group to court over what they claim is a massive royalty theft.
According to TMZ, the nu metal icons say they’re owed more than $200 million in royalties and profits, pointing to their three billion streams racked up just in the past two years.
In legal documents, the band claims UMG never planned to pay up, and Variety reports they’re hitting the label with charges of contract violation through fraud, copyright infringement and deliberately hiding money. Limp Bizkit alleges UMG deployed royalty tracking software specifically designed to hide artists’ earnings so the company could keep the cash. UMG fought back last November with a motion to dismiss, calling the withholding allegations pure “fiction.”
The band also claims their 1990s record deal promised a 50-50 profit split that never materialized. Durst adds that he was supposed to get ten percent of profits from Staind—a band he discovered and helped sign to UMG—but those payments mysteriously stopped in 2012.
In a March 17 ruling, Judge Percy Anderson ordered Durst to refile most claims in either New York or California while rejecting UMG’s attempt to dismiss the copyright infringement accusations. UMG must respond by April 7.
