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Legal
Cher sues Universal over royalties dispute
By CMU Editorial | Published on Thursday 4 June 2009
Cher has sued Universal Music for $5 million in a dispute over alleged unpaid royalties.
The singer says that the major concealed revenues generated by two compilations of her music, one actually distributed by Warner Music, in a bid to avoid having to pay her the full cut of royalties she was due. The dodgy accounting, she claims, also means the fourth wife of her one time husband and collaborator Sonny Bono also lost out on royalties she was due for Sonny & Cher duets included on the hits albums.
Cher’s lawsuit claims: “Instead of reporting to and paying plaintiffs their share of the revenues generated by Warner UK, UMG Recordings, in an egregious example of self-dealing, apparently inserted Universal International as a middleman in the transaction… for the sole purpose of diverting money that rightfully belonged to the plaintiffs to Universal International. UMG Recordings is underreporting and underpaying the royalties due to plaintiffs based on UMG Recordings’ improperly accounting to plaintiffs based on a royalty rate instead of their respective shares of net receipts”.
Cher’s lawyer Mark Passin added: “Universal is playing a game of catch-me-if-you-can with one of the most popular and iconic artists of all time. Unfortunately, record companies have learned over the years that they can increase their bottom line by under-reporting royalties to artists”.
But the major has denied the allegations, with spokesman Peter Lofrumento telling reporters: “The claims are meritless, and we are confident that we will prevail in court”.
