Limp Bizkit is seeking $200 million from Universal Music for unpaid royalties

Fred Durst, lead singer of the rock band Limp Bizkit, has sued Universal Music Group NV, the world’s largest record company, claiming he was defrauded of millions of dollars in royalties.

The complaint, filed Tuesday in federal court in Los Angeles, seeks more than $200 million in damages, as well as the restitution of Limp Bizkit’s copyrights. The suit alleges that Universal Music systematically and intentionally deprived other artists of their earnings as well, and seeks to recover royalties from other groups that worked with Universal through Durst’s Flawless Records.

The frontman claims he never received royalties from Universal, even though Limp Bizkit has sold more than 45 million records and equivalents. The band became popular again in the streaming era. So far this year, the complaint claims, Limp Bizkit has generated more than 450 million streams and will likely surpass 793 million by the end of the year.

According to the complaint, Durst and his bandmates received advances on album financing while they were working on new music. The company also covered the registration costs. The group was to receive royalties once Universal Music recouped its expenses.

The company reportedly told Durst’s representatives that it had not received any royalty statements over the years because Universal Music “wasn’t obligated to provide them because his account was still so far from being recovered.” Management allegedly told them the company had spent about $43 million that would have to be recouped before Durst could be paid royalties.

Durst’s team discovered that Flip Records, the original record label that signed the band, made millions of dollars by sharing the profits with Universal Music, while Durst received nothing.

When the team logged into a Universal Music database to view Durst’s royalty statements, they discovered he had more than $1 million in earnings waiting to be paid, the complaint said. After contacting the company, Durst’s representatives were told to provide various data, including banking information. Universal Music officials also blamed a bug in the new software.

The complaint alleges that Universal Music should have had all of this information from previous advances and that management never intended to pay royalties.

Universal Music did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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