A judge has dismissed Jane's claims that UMG has not done enough to prevent the fire while trying to hide the amount of destruction caused from the artists affected.
- Apr 7, 2020
AceShowbiz - A judge has dismissed Tom Petty's ex-wife Jane's lawsuit against Universal Music Group (UMG) over a 2008 fire in one of the label's warehouses.
The lawsuit was originally filed against UMG by Soundgarden, Steve Earle, Hole, Tupac Shakur and Petty's estates following an investigation by the New York Times into the vault fire, which they claimed had destroyed or damaged a huge amount of master recordings, in June (19). UMG has consistently denied the Times' reporting of the amount of damage caused by the blaze, and stated in legal filing that only the work of 19 of their artists had been affected.
The ensuing class action lawsuit accused UMG of not doing enough to prevent the fire, while also alleging they tried to hide the amount of destruction caused from the artists affected. In addition, those involved were intending to pursue litigation to recoup losses from the record label.
However, following the original lawsuit filing, all of the plaintiffs dropped out - leaving just Petty's former spouse to fight her corner.
But on Monday (April 06), Judge John A. Kronstadt ruled that Petty's masters were actually owned by his former label MCA - a subsidiary of UMG - meaning that Jane couldn't sue. He dismissed her claims without prejudice.
Following the decision, UMG released a statement which read: "Judge Kronstadt's decision fully dismisses the Soundgarden litigation and entirely rejects the only remaining plaintiff's arguments. As we have said all along, the New York Times Magazine articles at the root of this litigation were stunning in their overstatement and inaccuracy. As always, we remain focused on partnering with artists to release the world's greatest music."
Jane Petty has yet to announce whether or not she plans to appeal the decision.
