Sony, EMI Beat Dru Hill’s Royalties Lawsuit
Music publishers are clear of a royalties lawsuit filed by the members of popular 1990s R&B group Dru Hill after a New York federal judge on Friday dismissed with prejudice the claims against them.
Mark Andrews, James Green and Larry Anthony Jr. — known professionally as Sisqo, Woody and Jazz, respectively — first sued Sony/ATV and EMI in 2015. According to their complaint, Dru Hill entered into a publishing agreement with Art of War Music Publishing in 1996, and in 2002 Art of War made an exclusive deal with EMI.
Andrews claims EMI paid more than $600,000 of his royalties to 27 Red Music, which is also a defendant in the suit, and he never received them. Anthony and Green claim EMI wrongfully paid at least $30,000 of their royalties to 27 Red.
Their second amended complaint, which was filed in June, is the one at issue in regard to this motion. The Dru Hill members sued EMI and Sony/ATV, which has administered the interests of…