Fred Durst's unpaid royalties lawsuit against Universal Music faces strong opposition from the label, who claims the allegations are false and seeks dismissal in January.

Universal Music Group (UMG) has filed a detailed 35-page response challenging the lawsuit's validity. The case, initially filed by Limp Bizkit frontman Fred Durst and his Flawless Records, alleged millions in unpaid royalties and claimed UMG used "unsubstantiated costs" to make accounts appear unrecouped.

UMG contends that, contrary to the plaintiffs' claims of discovering missing compensation in April 2024, discussions about royalty payments occurred in January 2023. According to UMG, their Senior Director of Royalties contacted the plaintiffs' then-business manager, Paul Ta, who incorrectly stated that most band members had sold their royalty rights.

Key points in UMG's dismissal argument:

• The Flip Records claims must be dismissed as they're subject to New York jurisdiction, not California
• Contract termination claims are invalid as there wasn't a complete failure to make payments
• The deals explicitly prevent termination for royalty-accounting issues
• Varying advance balances resulted from offsetting positive balances against negative ones across accounts

UMG acknowledged an "embarrassing mistake" regarding delayed profit-split payments to Flawless Records but maintains this wasn't intentional concealment. The disputed payments were reportedly delivered to the plaintiffs in August.

The case awaits a dismissal hearing scheduled for January 6th, where both parties will present their arguments before the court.

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