Though they just put out their brand new album “The Stage” via their new Avenged Sevenfold Partnership venture with Capitol Records, Avenged Sevenfold‘s legal battle with their previous label home of Warner Bros. Records remains an ongoing concern. The Wall Street Journal have filed a new report on the matter, revealing that Warner Bros. Records‘ case against the band is due to go to trial sometime in 2017.
This past January, the band shared this statement on the suit, in which they explained that turnover in the ranks at Warner Bros. Records had left them without a proper working relationship. The core issue of the matter is the band’s attempt to exit their contract before its completion. In a bid to part ways with the label, the band cited the California Labor Code’s ‘seven-year rule’, which allows for parties to exit contracts after seven years if certain conditions are present.
The chief issue is that the band left the label without delivering the final album stipulated by their contract, instead choosing to put their latest full-length “The Stage” out through their new label home mentioned above. It should be noted that with the band having exited the label in November of last year, it doesn’t appear that any Warner Bros. resources went into the creation of this latest album. Regardless, the label are suing for damages incurred by the loss of income from not being able to release said album.
To prove their case, Warner Bros, Records will have to firmly establish what the album would have earned them had they released it themselves. Given the ‘surprise release’ tactics the band utilized to put out the album, the unconventional marketing plans could make for some trouble in Warner Bros. Records establishing a firm number. Avenged Sevenfold‘s Howard King told The Wall Street Journal of that:
“We don’t know what Warner could have done with an Avenged album other than screw it up. These are two completely different companies.”
In a move King described as “the height of vindictiveness,” Warner Bros. Records recently announced they would be issuing an Avenged Sevenfold ‘best of’ release titled “The Best Of 2005-2013” on December 02nd, without informing the band in advance. According to sources in contact with The Wall Street Journal, the label had begun initial discussions about the set prior to the band’s departure from the label and had contractual permission to issue it. For a whole lot more on the case, head to The Wall Street Journal.
