News of March 13, 2020
Tupac Estate and Soundgarden Drop Out of Lawsuit Against Universal
Withdrawal with reservation: The Shakur Trust and Soundgarden withdrew their 2008 Universal fire claims, reserving the right to rejoin.
The plaintiffs’ front against Universal is crumbling: on March 13, 2020, Tom Whalley, who represents the Afeni Shakur Trust, and the band Soundgarden voluntarily withdrew their claims in the class action against Universal Music Group. Billboard and Rolling Stone reported. Only Jane Petty, Tom Petty’s ex-wife, and Steve Earle remained as plaintiffs. The estate reserved the right to rejoin later as a class member.
Plaintiffs Accused Universal of Concealment
The background is the 2008 fire on the Universal lot. According to a report by The New York Times, up to 500,000 titles were destroyed there. The plaintiffs accused Universal of having concealed this (2019 lawsuit). Universal had stated in August that Tupac’s master tapes were not lost.
Archive Reports Safeties for Every Album
In an internal memo from March 5, quoted by The Hollywood Reporter, UMG chief archivist Pat Kraus wrote that his team had reviewed more than 150,000 assets. Less than 0.1 percent could be originals affected by the fire. Almost all had been released previously, and safeties exist for every album.