A Day To Remember‘s ongoing lawsuit has taken another interesting turn with Fueled By Ramen founder/current Interscope Records President and COO John Janick being pulled into the proceedings. In particular Victory Records were seeking a number of emails between the band and Janick that were withheld due to the bands assertion that he was a manager, thus giving those communications privilege.
The court has decided that Janick‘s relationship with the band was that of a consultant and not a managerial/agent role. This status denies his interactions with the band the ambit of attorney/client privileges. In turn, his communiqués with the group from 2009-2012 must be turned over to the defendants—in this case Victory Records.
Janick‘s role with the band has been at question as the group are primarily managed by Fly South Music Group. A Day To Remember assert that Janick would advise the band “concerning professional strategy, long-term plans and personal decisions that might affect the band’s career.” They also state that he was the “the bands voice to its attorneys”. For this role Janick‘s company Fueled By Ramen was paid commissions of $450,000 USD.
Victory Records look to have sought these documents upon suspicion that they may be tortious interference—aka intentional interference with the deal memo the label have with A Day To Remember that is at the heart of their lawsuit.
If you’re just catching up, A Day To Remember filed suit against Victory Records back in May of 2011, alleging breach of contract, disputed ownership of the bands copyrighted works and more. For more on the recent turn in the case, you can find the complete latest memorandum opinion and order over at Propertyofzack.com.
