Following the release of her second album Traumazine on August 15, Megan Thee Stallion’s ongoing legal battle with Carl Crawford’s label 1501 Certified Entertainment continues.
An amended complaint filed on behalf of Megan Thee Stallion (real name Megan Pete) obtained by Variety reveals that in addition to asking the Harris County District Court, Texas (USA) to determine that the 2021 release of singer’s Something for Thee Hotties is an “album” as defined in her recordings.
Megan Thee Stallion is also asking the company to pay $1 million in damages.
In the complaint, Megan Thee Stallion alleges that 1501 Certified Entertainment owes this money because it “underpaid royalties” and has “allowed excessive marketing and advertising fees to be deducted from the amount Megan Pete owes money under the recording agreement.”
If the judge rules in the singer’s favor, Megan Thee Stallion will officially fulfill her contractual obligations with 1501 Certified Entertainment and can leave the label per the recording agreement she signed in 2019. 2018.
Attorneys for Megan Thee Stallion did not respond to Variety ‘s request for comment . Over the past two years, Megan Thee Stallion and 1501 Certified Entertainment have been settling (both in and out of court) disputes regarding recording commitments.
1501 Certified Entertainment has repeatedly denied that Something for Thee Hotties meets the label’s requirements for a studio album .
Traumazine album cover
Steven Zager, legal representative for 1501 Certified Entertainment, confirmed to Variety that the label is still in the process of analyzing Traumazine ‘s validity as an album under her contract.
However, even if Traumazine qualifies, Zager claims Megan Thee Stallion still owes them at least one more take to fulfill her contract.
Megan Thee Stallion’s updated complaint also alleges copyright infringement, citing how Traumazine was leaked shortly before its release.
“Pete has asked 1501 to assist [in investigating the leak] but to date, 1501 has not taken any action to help with the investigation. In that situation, Pete had no choice but to release Traumazine early …
If that happened, every minute that passed while the music was leaked would be equivalent to lost income, lost positions on the rankings . And yet, 1501 continues to take the position that Traumazine does not meet Pete’s recording commitments as a contractual ‘album’,” the complaint states.
Zager said the claims were surprising, and he believes the logic behind the accusations doesn’t make sense when you consider Traumazine ‘s monetization . “When Megan makes a profit, so do we,” Zager said.
The complaint also reveals that Megan Thee Stallion has “hired investigators to attempt to determine the source of the leak.