A producer on Lil Wayne’s hit 2008 album Tha Carter III has sued Common Music Group (UMG) over claims that he’s owed greater than 10 years’ value of royalties totaling greater than $3 million.
UMG was hit with the federal lawsuit on Thursday (Could 22) over Darius “Deezle” Harrison’s manufacturing work on Tha Carter III, which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Sizzling 100 in 2008. Harrison’s legal professional says the producer labored on six tracks for the album, together with “Lollipop,” which reigned atop the chart for 5 weeks.
The lawsuit claims that per Harrison’s producer settlement with Lil Wayne’s Younger Cash Leisure, UMG’s Money Cash Information is meant to pay him a 4% royalty fee for his songs from Tha Carter III. Harrison can also be allegedly owed a 3% royalty fee for work he carried out beneath a separate settlement with Money Cash Information, together with producing six songs off the 2005 Birdman album Quick Cash.
Harrison beforehand sued Lil Wayne, Younger Cash Leisure and Money Cash Information over these identical royalties in 2011, and that case settled confidentially a 12 months later. Harrison says UMG started sending him royalty statements across the time of this settlement in 2012 however then stopped “nearly instantly.”
“Plaintiffs haven’t been paid any producer royalties related to the YME producer settlement or CMR producer settlement for over a decade,” writes lawyer Christopher L. Brown, who represents each Harrison and his firm, Drum Main Music Leisure. “The recordings at problem are absolutely recouped and over $3 million is owed to plaintiffs.”
Harrison additionally claims within the lawsuit that Lil Wayne has recycled tracks he created for attainable inclusion on Tha Carter III within the years since with out his consent. UMG is constant to monetize these songs as effectively, the lawsuit says.
The authorized criticism ranges three claims for breach of contract in opposition to UMG. Harrison’s lawyer says the label “has merely taken benefit of Harrison’s arduous work and ability as a producer” to make a monetary windfall, whereas fully and deliberately ignoring the contractual obligations” that entitle Harrison to a lower of those earnings.
Reps for UMG and Lil Wayne didn’t instantly return requests for remark Thursday.