A7X/Warner Bros. Lawsuit Set For December
Avenged Sevenfold and its former label, Warner Bros. Records, are set to hit court during December over breach of contract.
The company is suing A7X after the group, claiming a personnel turnover left it with an untenable working situation, signed with Capitol Records for its latest album, The Stage. Warner’s subsequently sued the band for breach of contract, seeking compensation for revenues lost from not having the album as well as damages.
A7X claims that it was a free agent after seven years with the label. Warners also responded to A7X’s move by releasing an unauthorized (but legal) A7X best-of collection a few weeks after The Stage came out. Frontman M. Shadows tells us that the group is moving on despite the legal situation:
“It doesn’t really bother us. It’s kind of obvious why they’re doing it, and I think people can see right through it. It is what it is; It’s what labels do and unfortunately, that label at one point was so good…and some of those guys running it that signed us. It was so artist friendly and this is kind of a good example of why we realized we couldn’t be there anymore.”
A7X is currently off the road after opening the North American leg of Metallica‘s WorldWired Tour; It next performs on October 15 at the Houston Open Air festival in Texas and is expected to announced new headlining dates soon.
Gary Graff is an award-winning music journalist who not only covers music but has written books on Bob Seger, Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen.
