A class action lawsuit seeking at least $100 million in damages was filed Friday against Universal Music Group on behalf of artists including rock bands Soundgarden and Hole, the estates of rapper Tupac Shakur and rocker Tom Petty, and country-rock singer-songwriter Steve Earle over a 2008 fire in Los Angeles in which master recordings made by those artists are alleged to have been destroyed.
It’s the first legal action taken since news surfaced last week of the extent of damage from the June 1, 2008, blaze that decimated a storage facility on the lot at Universal Studios Hollywood that housed a trove of recordings in UMG’s possession.
The suit, filed in U.S. Central District Court in Los Angeles by three law firms, states that Universal Music owes their clients, and others still to be identified, half of a confidential settlement UMG negotiated with its sister company, Universal Studios, estimated in the court papers to be worth at least $150 million.
Representatives for Universal Music Group could not be reached for comment.
Read the full story on LATimes.com.