Though A Day To Remember just recently largely won their court case against their former label home of Victory Records, it doesn’t seem like the dispute is entirely settled just yet. The band had first filed suit against the label back in 2011, alleging breach of contract, disputed ownership of their copyrighted works and more. Things eventually got uglier when Victory began withholding royalty payments after the band interfered in a merchandise deal the label had with Hot Topic back in 2012.
A new report over at Billboard.com delves into the outcome of the trial and has word that Victory will apparently be challenging at least one aspect of the decision. The key dispute at the heart of the legal battle was A Day To Remember‘s claims that they had fulfilled their five-album deal with the label. Their argument was that through a series of re-releases, deluxe reissues and live releases (they claimed it to be 13 releases,) they had met their obligations of the contract. The label disagreed with their claims and thus the band filed suit.
Earlier this month an Illinois jury decided in the band’s favor, awarding them $4.02 million. Furthermore, the band were granted the composition rights (aka the publishing) to their songs, while Victory Records were awarded the sound recording copyrights (aka the masters.)
According to legal representatives for the band, they had originally sought damages of $6 million and allege that the label was seeking $9 million. The label’s legal team however disputed those numbers, claiming the band was instead originally seeking $10 million in damages.
As per Billboard‘s report, Victory‘s legal representative, Robert Meloni of Meloni & McCaffrey P.C., says that $2.8 million of the decision covers royalties and the interest rightfully owed to the band (aka the money that was withheld.) However, the label plans to appeal an additional $1.2 million of the verdict, which they feel is related to a claim over “incorrectly withheld reserves.”
Interestingly, the band had also tried to argue that they were owed a higher royalty rate for their music that was digitally released through Victory, but the claim was dismissed twice by a judge prior to the trial. The band was also found to have breached their merchandising contract with the label by selling their merchandise directly to the fans via the web. Victory themselves are said to have withheld $100,000 as a result of that, and while the label won that claim, no money was awarded on that matter.
Billboard also point out that the trial gave a unique look at the structure of the record contract between A Day To Remember and Victory Records. They shared the following summary of it from the trial:
“Victory would pay A Day To Remember a $20,000 advance in support of its first album and $15,000 for the publishing on that album. Subsequent albums would also receive (undisclosed) advances. The royalty structure was 11.5 percent of the suggested list price for its first album, with that rate increasing by 1 percentage point for each subsequent record. If an album reached sales of 100,000, that rate would increase by half of a percentage point. In a separate deal, Victory also agreed to pay $1.50 a unit for publishing and record royalties for ‘Old Record.'”
For more from the legal teams involved in the trial and the outcome of it, head to Billboard.com.
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