Limp Bizkit’s Fred Durst has sued Universal Music Group (UMG), alleging that the record company withheld $2 million in unpaid royalties.
Durst filed the lawsuit in federal court in the US this week (8 October), which was obtained by Rolling Stone. In the lawsuit, Durst and his attorneys allege that UMG “designed and implemented” royalty software and systems, which they say are “deliberately designed to conceal artists’ royalties and keep those profits for itself.”
Additionally, the lawsuit claims that UMG “never had any intention of paying” Limp Bizkit. Durst alleges that UMG owes the nu-metal band as much as $200 million and demands that they receive sole ownership of the copyrights attached to their music.
Durst alleges that despite the band selling more than 45 million albums and being amid a resurgence, he hasn’t received a royalty payment from the record label. Durst also alleges that his label, Flawless Records, which signed the likes of Puddle Of Mudd and She Wants Revenge, hasn’t seen profits from UMG on those releases.
In the lawsuit, Durst alleged that as recently as August 2024, Limp Bizkit had “never received any royalties from UMG,” per Billboard.
His attorneys added that the band still has “millions of streaming users per month on Spotify alone. Despite this tremendous ‘come back,’ the band had still not been paid a single cent by UMG in any royalties until taking action against UMG, leading one to ask how on earth that could possibly be true.”
Durst’s dispute with UMG dates back to April when he retained new representatives who expressed “shock” that he had “not received any money for any Limp Bizkit exploitations—ever.”
The lawsuit states that UMG allegedly failed to issue royalty payments even during the band’s peak. Durst’s attorneys state:
“UMG’s failure to issue royalty statements in particular from 1997-2004 — the height of the band’s fame and during periods in which they made record-breaking sales — with respect to its most popular albums suggests that UMG was intentionally concealing the true amount of sales, and therefore royalties, due and owing to Limp Bizkit in order to unfairly keep those profits for itself.”
The lawsuit says Durst asked UMG about multiple alleged discrepancies and missing royalty payments throughout the year. His attorneys say the record label eventually paid $1.03 million to the band and $2.3 million to Durst’s Flawless Records. However, UMG allegedly still owes plenty of money to Limp Bizkit and Flawless Records.
“Given the vast amounts of money collected by UMG in relation to sales of Limp Bizkit’s and Flawless Records’ albums over the years … UMG is liable to plaintiffs for tens of millions of dollars in copyright infringement, if not more,” the lawsuit states.
Durst alleges that Limp Bizkit attempted to get out of their contract with UMG in September, but the label didn’t accept it. Durst states that he and Flawless Records have “no choice” but to take action with the lawsuit.
Limp Bizkit returned to Australia for Good Things Festival last December and sideshows in Auckland, Sydney, Brisbane, and Melbourne. You can check out the outrageous photo gallery from their show at Sydney’s Hordern Pavilion here.
