Limp Bizkit claims Universal Music Group withheld over $200 million in royalties in new lawsuit
Limp Bizkit has filed a lawsuit against Universal Music Group, claiming that the company owes them over $200 million in royalties.
In legal documents viewed by ABC Audio, frontman Fred Durst alleges that, upon hiring new representation around April 2024, he told them that “he had not received any money [from UMG] for any Limp Bizkit exploitations—ever.”
“Durst’s representatives were shocked because they were aware of Limp Bizkit’s phenomenal increase in popularity over the past several years,” the suit reads.
“Durst explained that he had been informed by UMG that he had not received any royalty statements because UMG told him over the years that it was not required to provide them since his account was still so far from recoupment,” it continues. “Durst’s representatives, suspicious that UMG was wrongfully claiming Plaintiffs’ accounts were unrecouped, suggested investigating further.”
Upon doing so, Durst alleges that it was discovered that Limp Bizkit’s accounts on the UMG portal listed payments due to the band for over $1 million. In continuing to investigate, the suit alleges that UMG also did not issue royalty statements from 1997 to 2004, during the height of Limp Bizkit’s popularity.
In reaching out to UMG, Limp Bizkit was told that the discrepancies were due to a “one-off mistake” caused by new software. However, Durst’s reps also allege that similar discrepancies were found in an entirely separate account tied to his label imprint, Flawless Records.
“Although Limp Bizkit and Flawless Records had completely separate royalty accounts with UMG, they appear to both have suffered from a critical, prejudicial, and essentially fraudulent design in UMG’s system whereby artists are owed millions of dollars in royalties and yet know nothing about it,” the suit reads. “Plaintiffs estimate that UMG owes Plaintiffs in excess of $200 million.”
Copyright © 2024, ABC Audio. All rights reserved.
