Universal Music Group Fire: Lawsuits Expected to be Filed Next Week

A number of lawsuits are expected to be filed as early as next week in response to a report from New York Times Magazine regarding thousands of master recordings owned by Universal Music Group (UMG) being destroyed in a 2008 fire.

Per the Los Angeles Times, the law firm King, Holmes, Paterno & Soriano is representing a number of artists whose master recordings were lost in the UMG fire. In a statement, attorney and firm partner Howard King said, "We have many very concerned clients. This has a potentially huge impact on their future, coupled with the rather disturbing fact that no one ever told them that their intellectual property may have been destroyed. There is a significant amount of discussion going on, and there will be formal action taken.”

While King did not disclose who his clients were to the Los Angeles Times, he did say there were “more than 10 but fewer than 100 clients.”

King also said that he would be filing separate lawsuits for each of his clients, instead of rolling all of them up into a class-action suit. King explained his reason for doing this by saying, “The claims of the people who have lost their futures in some respects are far more significant than would be dealt with in a class action. Class-action suits generally are filed on behalf of many people who are in a similar situation with relatively small claims. The claims of our clients are significant enough to justify individual lawsuits.”

Erica Banas is rock/classic rock news blogger that loves the smell of old vinyl in the morning.