The Carpenters Sue Universal Music Group for $2 Million

Richard Carpenter is suing Universal Music Group and A&M Records on behalf of his duo the Carpenters for unpaid digital royalties, Variety reports. Carpenter claims the labels have paid out only a “minuscule fraction” of the money owed to him and his sister Karen’s estate. According to the lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court, Carpenter alleges that accountants hired to reevaluate the matter uncovered several errors in the label’s books and he’s seeking at least $2 million in damages. The lawsuit claims the record labels improperly classified revenue from digital downloads of the duo’s music as sales of records instead of licensing revenue. It also claims they undercounted digital downloads due to incorrect pricing and miscalculated CD sales.

“I regret that I have been unable to amicably resolve this serious royalty dispute with Universal and A&M,” Carpenter told Variety. “The Carpenters recordings are among the best sellers in the history of popular music and after 48 years continue to contribute a substantial amount to UMG/A&M’s annual bottom line. It seems only fair that these companies account fairly to my sister’s estate and to me.”

The Carpenters were a pop duo that rose to prominence in the late ‘60s, striking it big in 1970 when two songs—“(They Long to Be) Close to You” and “We’ve Only Just Begun”—landed at No. 1 and No. 2 respectively on the Billboard singles chart. Their self-titled 1971 album went quadruple platinum and won the pairing a Grammy for Best Pop Vocal Performance — Duo or Group. They had four multiplatinum albums and ten gold singles. Karen Carpenter died of heart failure in 1983.

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