Artists File $100 Million Suit Against Universal Music Over 2008 Fire
Several prominent bands, musicians and artist estates sued the world's largest record company, Universal Music Group [UMG], on Friday after an investigation published by the New York Times earlier this month alleged that hundreds of thousands of master recordings, protection copies, unreleased music and other materials had burned in a massive fire at a UMG vault in 2008.
The plaintiffs contend that UMG breached its contract with artists by failing to archive the materials properly, instead allegedly stowing masters and other materials "in an inadequate, substandard storage warehouse located on the backlot of Universal Studios [Hollywood] that was a known firetrap." Moreover, they say that after the fire, "UMG concealed the loss with false public statements such as that 'we only lost a small number of tapes and other material by obscure artists from the 1940s and 50s.' "