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Wayne Sues Universal Music Group Over Unpaid Royalties

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American hip hop recording artist Dwayne Micheal Carter, Jr popular by his stage name Lil Wayne has sued American-French music corporation Universal Music Group accusing the label of withholding royalties from both his music and the artists on his Young Money label.

Reports indicate that Lil Wayne filed the suit yesterday 28th March in the State of California seeking  $40 million in  damages and unpaid profits.

Wayne claims that UMG has diverted tens of millions of dollars of his profits to repay itself for the $100 million it advanced 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," Wayne's lawsuit states. "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 lawsuit also names SoundExchange, a non-profit performance rights organization that collects and distributes digital performance royalties, as a defendant. "Universal has claimed a right to 100% of the label performance royalties attributed to the [Young Money Entertainment] Records," the lawsuit continues. "SoundExchange refuses to pay any of the money due to Young Money LLC and [Lil Wayne] individually based on Universal's conflicting demand."

Lil Wayne's attorney Howard E. King of King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano in a statement issued on Monday had this to say about the lawsuit

"Universal should be grateful and respectful to Lil Wayne for the millions of dollars in distribution fees and profits they have earned on the artists he brought to the company, instead of seizing all of his profits on those artists in a desperate attempt to recoup the tens of millions of dollars they are owed by Cash Money Records."


A UMG spokesperson had this to tell about the rapper's claims,

"These claims are entirely without merit. It should be no surprise that we learned of the lawyer's complaint through the news media. 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."


Wayne's Young Money deal with Universal expired in June 2015. Five months before Wayne's contract ended, the rapper sued his mentor Bryan "Birdman" Williams and Cash Money Records for $51 million. Wayne's lawsuit against Birdman remains unsettled but the relationship between the two is reported to have been restored.

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