A producer on Lil Wayne’s hit 2008 album Tha Carter III has sued Universal Music Group (UMG) over claims that he’s owed more than 10 years’ worth of royalties totaling more than $3 million.
UMG was hit with the federal lawsuit on Thursday (May 22) over Darius “Deezle” Harrison’s production work on Tha Carter III, which spent three weeks at No. 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 2008. Harrison’s attorney says the producer worked on six tracks for the album, including “Lollipop,” which reigned atop the chart for five weeks.
The lawsuit claims that per Harrison’s producer agreement with Lil Wayne’s Young Money Entertainment, UMG’s Cash Money Records is supposed to pay him a 4% royalty rate for his songs from Tha Carter III. Harrison is also allegedly owed a 3% royalty rate for work he performed under a separate agreement with Cash Money Records, including producing six songs off the 2005 Birdman album Fast Money.
Harrison previously sued Lil Wayne, Young Money Entertainment and Cash Money Records over these same royalties in 2011, and that case settled confidentially a year later. Harrison says UMG began sending him royalty statements around the time of this settlement in 2012 but then stopped “almost immediately.”
“Plaintiffs have not been paid any producer royalties associated with the YME producer agreement or CMR producer agreement for over a decade,” writes lawyer Christopher L. Brown, who represents both Harrison and his company, Drum Major Music Entertainment. “The recordings at issue are fully recouped and over $3 million is owed to plaintiffs.”
Harrison also claims in the lawsuit that Lil Wayne has recycled tracks he created for possible inclusion on Tha Carter III in the years since without his consent. UMG is continuing to monetize these songs as well, the lawsuit says.
The legal complaint levels three claims for breach of contract against UMG. Harrison’s lawyer says the label “has simply taken advantage of Harrison’s hard work and skill as a producer” to make a financial windfall, while completely and intentionally ignoring the contractual obligations” that entitle Harrison to a cut of these profits.
Reps for UMG and Lil Wayne did not immediately return requests for comment Thursday.