Lil Wayne is reportedly suing Universal Music Group for unpaid profits from discovering and signing artists like Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Tyga to his label, Young Money, a subsidiary of Cash Money and Universal.
According to a federal lawsuit filed on Monday in California, Dwayne Carter Jr., known as Lil Wayne, claims Universal has diverted millions of dollars of his profits to repay itself for a previous $100 million advance to Cash Money Records, Inc.
“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,” states the complaint.
“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.”
Carter claims their 2003 agreement states the label’s profits “would be divided 51% – 49% between Cash Money and Carter, and ownership of all the Young Money Label property, (e.g., master recordings, copyrights, intellectual property, good will) similarly would be owned 51% – 49% between Cash Money and Carter, respectively.”
SoundExchange, the nonprofit that collects and distributes digital performance royalties on behalf of copyright owners, is also named as a defendant in the suit.
Carter is seeking at least $40 million in damages and disgorged profits and a “judgment declaring the parties’ respective rights with regard to Plaintiffs’ share of label performance royalties.”
Universal Music denies any wrongdoing.
“These claims are entirely without merit. It should be no surprise that we learned of the lawyer’s complaint through the news media,” a spokesman for the label said in a statement. “We don’t intend to dignify this with further public comment except to say that we will vigorously contest it and that the merits of our case will carry the day.”
