Rock Band Lit Sues Sony Music Alleging Unpaid Royalties
The ’90s rockers claim to be owed $800,000
Rock band Lit, which achieved platinum success in the ’90s with the hit “My Own Worst Enemy,” is suing Sony Music Entertainment (SME) over an alleged breach of contract. It claims the company owes the group more than $800,000 in streaming royalties.
The allegations:
The band originally signed its exclusive recording contract with RCA Records in 1998, before it was acquired by Sony Music.
The band says Sony has been paying its audio streaming royalties at a flat 14% rate, though the group’s contract dictates that those royalties should be calculated on a net receipts basis.
This is often a more favorable formula for artists and treats streams as equal to master use or sync licensing.
Lit also alleges that Sony has been paying the band’s video streaming royalties at 17%, instead of 50% based on net receipts as per the contract.
In addition, Lit claims Sony never applied the correct royalty rates once its 1999 album A Place in the Sun achieved Gold and Platinum status, which it says should have been bumped from 14% to 15%.
Damages:
The band is seeking full damages, attorneys’ fees, and a trial by jury to determine the exact amount of damages, as per Digital Music News.
👋 Disclosures & Transparency Block
This story was written with information from Digital Music News.
We covered it because it’s news of a lawsuit between an artist and label.
