Limp Bizkit’s Lawsuit Against Universal Music Rollin’ Ahead As Band Seeks $200M In Royalties

deadline.com:

Fred Durst and Limp Bizkit weren’t doing it all for the nookie — they wanted their money also. The $200 million lawsuit filed by the band over unpaid royalties is rollin’ forward after a judge ruled against Universal Music Group’s motion to dismiss.

Filed in October in L.A.’s Central District, the suit says that as of April 2024, the plaintiffs “had not seen a dime in royalties on any Limp Bizkit assets.” The complaint also accuses UMG of having a “fraudulent” system in place “to conceal artists’ royalties and keep those profits for itself.” In his 17-page ruling this week (read it here), Judge Percy Anderson wrote: “The Court denies the Motion to Dismiss challenging the sufficiency of the copyright claims.

Defendant shall file its Answer to the copyright claims asserted in the 1st AC by no later than April 7, 2025.” The lawsuit by Durst and the nü metal band (read it here), of which he is the controlling member, claims that in early 2024, as they were riding a resurgence in popularity, “UMG repeatedly asked Durst to get involved with the 25th anniversary re-release of Limp Bizkit’s album ‘Significant Other.’ Durst replied that he did not approve any “new art, new tracks, unreleased tracks, new versions of songs, new mastering, or remixes, etc.” because it seemed like a “money grab” that would only benefit UMG, as Plaintiffs had not seen a dime in royalties on any Limp Bizkit assets at that point. “The fact that UMG had sought to exploit Limp Bizkit’s assets shows that they knew that they would generate significant revenues due to the band’s newly reignited popularity,” the suit adds. “Thus, UMG knew that, although Limp Bizkit’s assets were generating millions in income for UMG and Flip Records, and could be further