Hello friends of The Hollywood Lawyer! We are excited to kick off our Digital Media Dose blog series where we will be giving you guys the most relevant news and updates about the ever-changing realm of digital media.
This week, we want to comment on the lawsuit that Lil Wayne filed against Universal Music earlier this week on March 28. The lawsuit claims that Universal Music owes Lil Wayne $51 million in unpaid royalties.
Specifically, Lil Wayne’s Young Money label entered an agreement with Universal Music’s Cash Money Records back 2003, with the goal of discovering new artists and nurturing them into global stars. The deal would provide Wayne with 49% of the profits and Universal’s Cash Money would receive 51%. When the final agreement expired in June 2015 and was not renewed Wayne filed on the grounds that he did not receive the accorded percentage, as well as the promised refunds of overhead expenses. Wayne is also alleging that Universal Music is using the royalties from his signed artists (Drake and Nicki Minaj) to repay itself for the $100 million advances to Cash Money Records.
Click here if you wish to see the filing. As we await to hear the outcomes, we want to encourage our friends and clients to always have an entertainment attorney revise their contracts before signing. It may seem like overkill at the moment, but cases like these show the need for legal consulting within the entertainment industry. We are so proud of the legal talent that we have here at The Hollywood Lawyer and pleased to announce that it is at your service at a 15% discount for first time clients!
Best of luck to both parties and may the law and justice prevail in the end!
In the meantime, let us take a moment to enjoy the one and only Lil Wayne:
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