Label Responds to Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst’s Royalty Lawsuit

UPDATE 11/26/24: Universal Music Group has responded to Fred Durst’s claim that the label owes Limp Bizkit more than $200 million. On Friday (Nov. 22), Billboard reports that attorney’s for the label argued that the lawsuit should be dismissed immediately because it is “based in fallacy.”

“Plaintiffs’ entire narrative that UMG tried to conceal royalties is a fiction,” writes UMG attorney Rollin A. Ransom. “Plaintiffs’ complaint fails as a matter of law and should be dismissed with prejudice.”

According to the label’s attorneys, documents included in Durst’s lawsuit “eviscerate” his allegations against the label. They cited emails in which a UMG exec tried to get the royalty situation resolved only to be rebuffed by the band’s business manager.

Durst’s legal reps refuted UMG’s arguments to dismiss the case in a statement to Billboard.

A new lawsuit filed by Limp Bizkit‘s Fred Durst suggests that the nu-metal hitmakers are owed over $200 million in royalties from the Universal Music Group (UMG). The singer’s lawyers even went so far as to state that the Durst had “not seen a dime in royalties” over the decades from the label and that his group was not alone in that predicament.

He may have sang about doing it all for the nookie, but Durst apparently feels he was shortchanged in financial earnings from Universal Music Group’s cookie. As Billboard reported, in the lawsuit filed Tuesday (Oct. 8) in Los Angeles federal court, Durst argued that the label implemented “systemic” and “fraudulent” policy that was designed to conceal royalties from artists so that the label could keep the profits for themselves.

What Fred Durst Has Alleged

The complaint states that Limp Bizkit initially signed what they thought was a conventional record deal in which an artist was advanced a sum of money to record the album with the label then being able to recoup those costs before royalties were passed on to the artist.

Within the legal action, Durst claims that the label said that Limp Bizkit had spent $43 million in advances to work on their music over the years and that all royalties were not being paid “since his account was still so far from recoupment.”

However, Durst reveals that the band was never contacted about the initial withholdings and their supposed debt. Durst also claims that the label initially blamed the lack of notification about the royalty withholding on a software error.

“UMG’s failure to issue royalty statements in particular from 1997-2004 — the height of the band’s fame and during periods in which they made record-breaking sales — with respect to its most popular albums suggests that UMG was intentionally concealing the true amount of sales, and therefore royalties, due and owing to Limp Bizkit in order to unfairly keep those profits for itself,” it’s stated in the suit.

According to the singer, it wasn’t until he retained new representation that started looking into his financial matters that he first learned of the band’s supposed debt to the label and that the royalties were being withheld.

Lawyers for the musician report that $1.03 million was eventually released to the band, while the Durst’s Flawless Records recouped $2.3 million after the initial inquiry, but the band is suing because the sum doled out is significantly less that what has been paid so far.

What Else Fred Durst Is Seeking From UMG

While the financial consideration is a big part of the lawsuit, Durst and Limp Bizkit are also seeking to void their contract with UMG and asking for the return of copyrights and seeking additional infringement damages over those rights.

Limp Bizkit By the Numbers

Limp Bizkit achieved great success in the late ’90s and early 2000s. Their debut album Three Dollar Bill, Y’All has been certified double platinum. The follow-up, Significant Other, is a seven-times platinum album. Chocolate Starfish and the Hotdog Flavored Water is their biggest seller at eight times platinum. Results May Vary was their last platinum album.

READ MORE: The ‘Big 4’ Bands of Millennial Dad Rock

After a 10-year break between records, Limp Bizkit returned in 2021 with the well-received album Still Sucks. The band just completed a successful summer run under the Loserville banner.