Lil Wayne Sues Universal Music Over Unpaid Young Money Profits
Lil Wayne‘s attorneys have filed a federal lawsuit against Universal Music Group and SoundExchange, according to The Hollywood Reporter. He is seeking at least $40 million in damages. Wayne alleges that Universal has witheld profits he’s earned from the Young Money artists–such as Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Tyga–whom he’s discovered. Young Money is an imprint of the Cash Money label, which Universal distributes. The suit states that Universal once gave Cash Money a $100 million advance; the label, he says, has used his profits to pay itself back for Cash Money’s debt. The lawsuit reads:
With Universal’s knowledge of Lil Wayne’s rights to partial ownership and profits from those artists, Universal and Cash Money entered into a series of agreements which, among other things, diverted Lil Wayne’s substantial profits to repay debts of Cash Money…. As a result, 100% of the profits that should have been paid to Lil Wayne as a result of his ownership of Drake, Nicki Minaj and Tyga records have been seized by Universal to repay debts that were neither incurred by nor were the obligations of Lil Wayne.
The suit claims that, according to a 2003 agreement, Wayne would own and receive 49 percent of all Young Money profit, while Cash Money got the other 51 percent. As such, he does not believe he is responsible for paying Cash Money’s debts. That agreement expired on June 4, 2015, too.
Wayne is also suing SoundExchange, which collects and distributes royalties for copyright owners, because “Universal has claimed a right to 100% of the label performance royalties attributed to the YME [Young Money] Records” and “SoundExchange refuses to pay any of the money due to Young Money LLC and Carter individually based on Universal’s conflicting demand.”
Last year, Lil Wayne filed a $51 million lawsuit against Cash Money for violating his contract and witholding the money he’s owed for his still-forthcoming album Tha Carter V. In January, Wayne and Cash Money owner Birdman appeared to have stopped feuding, but Wayne maintained that he is still suing the label and wants his album released; the reconciliation was “mostly sentimental.”
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