Mar 28, 2016
According to The Hollywood Reporter, Lil Wayne and his attorney team has filed a federal lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) and SoundExchange. Lil Wayne seeks $40 million in damages, claiming he has been cheated out of millions for his discovery and mentoring of artists like Drake, Nicki Minaj, and Tyga.
Weezy's Young Money label is an offshoot of UMG's Birdman-owned Cash Money Records and focuses on discovering, promoting, and nurturing artists signed to the Young Money label. To spark the feud, UMG reportedly gave Cash Money Records a $100 million advance. And Wayne claims UMG diverted tens of millions of his own profits to repay itself the money advanced to Cash Money, Inc.
Included in the suit is a claim that states according to a 2003 agreement, Wayne would collect 49% of all Young Money profits as Cash Money received the other 51%. Therefore, Wayne believes he is not responsible for assisting in paying for Cash Money's debts. The lawsuit states:
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...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.
Also named as a defendant in the lawsuit is nonprofit company SoundExchange, which collects and distributes royalties for its respected copyright owner. In the lawsuit, SoundExchange is mentioned by refusing to pay the supposed profits owed to Lil Wayne. "Universal has claimed a right to 100% of the label performance royalties attributed to the YME [Young Money] Records" and "SoundExchange refuses to pay any of the money due to Young Money LLC and Carter individually based on Universal’s conflicting demand."
Just last year, Lil Wayne filed a $51 million lawsuit, currently pending in Louisiana federal court, against Cash Money for withholding the profits he is owed for his album Tha Carter IV.