Music Producer Darius “Deezle” Harrison and his Drum Major Music Entertainment have sued Universal Music Group (UMG) in New York federal court for $3 million in unpaid royalties on Lil Wayne’s 2008 album Tha Carter III. UMG is the only defendant in this particular lawsuit. Harrison produced six tracks on the album including the hit “Lolli Pop.”
Harrison contends he stopped receiving the royalites from UMG in 2012 right after he settled an earlier claim with Cash Money Records. Harrison states he had a contract with Cash Money Records and is owed a four percent producer royalty rate for the songs he produced for Lil Wayne’s highly successful album.
Harrison further claims that he is entitled to a three percent producer royalty rate pursuant to another agreement he had with Cash Money Records producing for Birdman’s 2005 album Fast Money. According to Deezle’s lawyer, Christopher L. Brown: “Plaintiffs have not been paid any producer royalties associated with the YME Producer Agreement or CMR Producer Agreement for over a decade.”
Harrison was a key person involved in Tha Carter III album. In its first week of release, the record sold over a million copies and the RIAA has certified it platinum eight times.
This is not the first time Harrison has sued Wayne’s Cash Money and Young Money (both part of UMG); he also sued them in 2011.
By way of background, Deezle had a 2004 producer deal with Cash Money Records and he produced “Weezy Baby” on Lil Wayne’s album Tha Carter II. Deezle then signed another producer agreement with Young Money Entertainment in 2007.
According to the plaintiff, Young Money agreed to give “no less than semi-annual accounting statements reflecting all royalties accrued.” In addition, plaintiff is claiming Cash Money (Young Money’s distributor) was required to account to plaintiffs directly and at the same time, it “accounted to Young Money.” It has been reported that in 2020 Lil Wayne sold his Young Money catalog to UMG.
Consequently, plaintiffs assert Young Money, Cash Money, and UMG are all required to pay Deezle and his company the four percent producer royalty rate on Tha Carter III. Plaintiff’s complaint states:
“In a shocking, willful and intentional breach of the YME Producer Agreement… YME has failed to [account to] Harrison pursuant to the YME Producer Agreement and UMG breached the agreement by failing to report and pay royalties…”
“UMG administers the payments to producers, artists and songwriters relating to the masters at issue and has failed to pay Plaintiffs,” the plaintiffs stated.
Other artists, including Iggy Azalea, Salt-N-Pepa, and Limp Bizkit, have also alleged UMG has failed to pay them royalties.
UMG is entangled in another lawsuit filed by Drake who is signed to UMG. Drake claims UMG is liable for defamation because it released and promoted Kendrick Lamar’s hit song “Not Like Us.” UMG has denied Drake’s claims.
This article is a very brief overview of the subject matter and does not constitute legal advice.
GLENN LITWAK is a veteran entertainment attorney based in Santa Monica, CA. He has represented platinum selling recording artists, Grammy winning music producers, hit songwriters, management and production companies, music publishers and independent record labels. Glenn is also a frequent speaker at music industry conferences around the country, such as South by Southwest and the Billboard Music in Film and TV Conference. Email Litwak at gtllaw59@gmail. com or visit glennlitwak.com.
