Linkin Park and Ex-Bassist Kyle Christner Settle Lawsuit

A lawsuit between Linkin Park and their former bassist Kyle Christner over writing credits and unpaid royalties reached an “amicable resolution”, according to the band and their label Warner Records.

Originally filed in the U.S. District Court for the Central District Of California last November, the suit pertained to music that was written in the late 90s and then included in the 20th anniversary box set of Hybrid Theory. More specifically, the suit pointed to Christner’s contributions to “more than twenty songs,” which included the previously unreleased track “Could Have Been.”

Earlier today, Linkin Park issued a statement announcing the settlement between both parties.

“We are pleased to announce that we have reached an amicable resolution with bass guitarist Kyle Christner. Kyle is a very talented musician who made valuable contributions to Linkin Park at a pivotal time in 1999. He performed with the band in several shows and many record label showcases. Kyle helped write and performed on many songs from that era, including some of the songs on the Hybrid Theory EP.”

Previously, the band tried to have the case dismissed by claiming the former band member’s complaint was “rife with defects” while questioning why he only filed his lawsuit two decades after the fact. Pointing to that gap in time, lawyers also contested that the lawsuit should be thrown out due to the statute of limitations, pointing to the fact that copyright lawsuits need to be filed in the first three years.

All in all, the lawsuit alleged that Christner played on the following tracks in the box set: “Could Have Been,” “She Couldn’t,” “Chair,” and “Step Up.” He also alleged that his bass tracks can be heard on tracks 2, 3, 4, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, and 12 of Forgotten Demos, tracks 1, 2, 7, 13, 14, 16, 17 of LPU Rarities, and track 7 of B-Side Rarities, as well as the Hybrid Theory EP. That last part was particularly problematic, seeing as Christner alleged that he was told the band had re-recorded his bass parts, but later found out that had not been the case.

Now that the lawsuit is concluded, I’m pretty sure we can assume that Christner got a nice payday to not take the lawsuit to trial. Regardless, it’s a pretty good outcome for a dude that’s been out of one of the biggest bands of the 2000s since 1999.