Virgin/EMI Sue 30 Seconds to Mars for $30 Million, Leto Fights Back

Links (3)

Jared Leto's Band Deserves More Money, Right? [Music]
Published 8/18/2008 by Hamilton Nolan at Gawker
... So here's the new way to get out of your record contract: just "repudiate" it! That's the sophisticated legal strategy employed by 30 Seconds To Mars, Jared Leto's group. His record label, EMI, responded to the band's novel move by suing them for $30 million. Free your mind from the shackles of commerce, EMI! On its ...

Jared Leto Sued for Not Making Music
Published 8/18/2008 at Radar: Fresh Intelligence Blog
... and some other dude. The band signed a five-record deal back in 1999, but their last album, their second, came all the way back in 2005. It's a productivity problem that hasn't exactly gone over well with their label, Virgin, at least judging from a recent suit the label has filed seeking damages "in excess of $30 million " for breach of contract. $30 million may seem like a lot to ask for from a band that's not even a real band, but it turns out 30 Seconds to Mars has actually sold 2 million albums. The Letos are trying to extricate themselves from this legal mess by citing ...

How to get out of record deals when they go wrong
Published 8/28/2008 by Helienne Lindvall at Music: Music blog | guardian.co.uk
... - have used it in the past to either get out of or renegotiate their deals. It's easy to see these legal cases as a David v Goliath scenario - the artist fighting the corporation - and, speaking as a musician, I tend take the side of the artist. But I can see the label's point of view too. To launch a new artist on a global scale costs a lot of money. Record labels are companies that don't see a return on their investments for years down the line - if ever. In an online statement, Jared Leto writes : "If you think the fact that we have sold in excess of 2m records and have ...