LOS ANGELES (CelebrityAccess) – Last week, Universal Music Group (UMG) filed a motion to dismiss the massive $100 million lawsuit filed against it by artists impacted by the 2008 Universal Studios fire. Now, Courtney Love — and her band, Hole — have been dropped from the suit.
Attorneys for the musicians said they agreed to drop Hole because UMG assured them the band’s music was not affected.
An amended putative class action complaint against UMG was filed August 16. The other original named plaintiffs — Soundgarden, Tom Whalley on behalf of the Afeni Shakur Trust that oversees Tupac Shakur’s estate, Tom Petty’s ex-wife Jane Petty and Steve Earle — who filed their lawsuit June 21 against UMG are still pursuing their claims.
The plaintiffs are reportedly seeking to recover half of any settlement proceeds and insurance payments received by UMG and half of any remaining loss of value not compensated by such settlement proceeds and insurance payments. According to the lawsuit, UMG’s litigation and insurance claims following the fire were reportedly valued at $150 million to recoup the value of the master recordings — none of which was directly shared with artists. The artists are suing UMG for breach of contract, negligence, reckless conduct, misrepresentation as well as other causes of action.
Following the news that Hole had been dropped from the suit, UMG released a statement accusing the attorneys filing the complaint of rushing into litigation without first knowing exactly which client’s archives were damaged. UMG also alleged that few of the artists named in the suit actually had masters in the warehouse at the time of the 2008 inferno.
News of the warehouse fire came to light after the New York Times Magazine published on an investigative story titled “The Day the Music Burned” on June 11.
