PROSTHETIC RECORDS TAKES RAZOR & TIE TO COURT
Prosthetic Records, home to such artists as Gojira, Skeletonwitch, The Acacia Strain, and Through the Eyes of the Dead, has filed suit against Razor & Tie, Billboard reports. I don’t wanna re-type or misinterpret any of the legalese, so I’m just gonna cut and paste the nitty gritty from Billboard:
In the suit, Prosthetic claims that its distribution agreement with Razor & Tie expired on Jan. 1, 2010, and is of no further force and effect, other than those obligations that run from Razor & Tie to Prosthetic following the expiration of the term of the Distribution Agreement, and is not binding on Prosthetic. According to the complaint filed by Prosthetic, Razor & Tie claims the agreement has not expired.
Prosthetic also claims that Razor & Tie failed to comply with the distribution agreement, alleging it did not deliver 10 out of 12 releases to digital outlets in a timely manner, and did not release the band Skeletonwitch’s album to Canadian retailers and iTunes Canada.
The suit also alleges Razor & Tie failed to render proper and accurate accountings to Prosthetic, including, but not limited to, failing to properly account for Bulk CDs, digital revenue and reserves; and distributed digital copies to foreign territories outside the authorized territory of the Distribution Agreement. Prosthetic is seeking release from its contract, as well as damages of no less than $100,000 plus interest.
So… what does that mean you, oh ye metal faithful? Not that much in the scheme of things (unless you live in Canada, in which case you apparently had a bitch of a time finding the new Skeletonwitch album). But I do find this fact that Dan Rodriguez at Metal Insider pointed out pretty interesting:
[Prosthetic artist] All That Remains… was upstreamed to Razor & Tie proper for its more recent releases.
Does this legal dispute hold some bearing on which label gets to work with All That Remains moving forward? That band is obviously very successful, and I imagine there would be quite a tug-o’-war over them, if that’s what it comes down to.
More info as we get it…
-AR
