A Day To Remember have given fans an update from their long-running legal drama with former label Victory Records. The band, who almost seemed in disbelief of the the outcome, were stoked to report a victory, landing them a settlement as well as some much culling of Bad Vibrations.
News broke overnight that the group had successfully challenged the label over a contract dispute, resulting in a USD$4 million payout from unpaid royalties.
According to Law360, the decision came following a two-week trial which saw an eight-person jury deliberate for a day and a half, ultimately siding with the post-hardcore heroes.
The crisis began back in 2011, when Victory claimed that ADTR failed to complete their contractual obligation of releasing five albums through the label. Only three studio albums were released during their partnership — For Those Who Have Heart, Homesick and What Separates Me From You.
Earlier in the year, Victory released a statement (below) explaining their point of view, mentioning the albums as well as the widely reported coverage from media that the band had in fact only released three albums. However, the jury determined that a variety of live recordings released by the band did complete the five albums owed.
As a result, the label was ordered to pay the USD$4 million for missed royalties.
Since the decision, the band took to socials to make a statement, confirming how stoked they are, commenting, “Right doesn’t always win, but yesterday it did.” You can read the full statement below.
We’ll be able to celebrate with the band, in person, any moment now, with their Bad Vibes headline run kicking off down under shortly.
A Day To Remember’s Statement
“As many of you know, more than 5 years ago we filed a lawsuit against Victory Records seeking freedom and resolution on several issues we had with them. For the past 2 weeks we have been in court arguing our case. Yesterday, the jury came back with a unanimous verdict in the trial granting us that freedom and resolution. Thank you to the fan base for supporting us through this difficult time, we couldn’t have done this without you. This isn’t just a victory for us but also a victory for every band wronged over the years. Right doesn’t always win, but yesterday it did.”
Victory Records Statement – (Via Alt Press)
“Victory Records has issued a detailed response to a recent article in Kerrang! Magazine referencing the litigation filed against it by the band A Day To Remember. Victory Records is compelled to provide the following information to the public, specifically in response to untrue statements made by band leader Jeremy McKinnon. Victory did not file this lawsuit, A Day To Remember did so in order to avoid their remaining recording commitments to Victory. In fact, Victory was blindsided by the lawsuit that the band began to surreptitiously prepare as early as 2010.
The core issue in the lawsuit is how many “Albums” A Day To Remember delivered under its agreement with Victory Records. Not once before filing the lawsuit did ADTR claim to Victory or to the public that they had satisfied their 5-Album recording commitment. They never asserted that Victory’s efforts concerning the marketing, promotion and distribution of the albums was anything less than stellar. During the years ADTR considered itself a Victory artist, they never complained about royalties.
Including the recent article in Kerrang!, virtually every press outlet that has covered ADTR’s album releases since 2006 have reported the number of full length studio albums ADTR released in total – this includes the three albums released by Victory (2007’s For Those Who Have Heart, 2009’s Homesick, 2010’s What Separates Me From You), Old Record (a 2008 re-release of a previous ADTR album on Indianola Records as part of a separate agreement), 2013’s Common Courtesy (the “Fifth” album), and now Bad Vibrations (the “Sixth” Album). ADTR’s inherently absurd claim that they delivered 13 “Albums” in the first two years of their agreement with Victory defies common sense, logic and reality.
Victory continued to pay A Day To Remember royalties even after the band filed this lawsuit. Victory ceased paying royalties when ADTR interfered with Victory’s merchandise sales to Hot Topic which was well into the lawsuit. Victory asserted a “Set-off” counterclaim in the lawsuit, which in this situation permits the withholding of payments that may be otherwise due based on ADTR’s material breaches of their agreement – which includes selling merchandise and music via ADTR.com, to other retailers, and refusing to deliver two commitment albums to Victory. As a result of these breaches, Victory sustained damages in the millions of dollars.
In August 2011 (two months after ADTR filed the lawsuit) Victory made its first of many settlement offers to resolve this dispute. They were all rejected by the band. ADTR rejected Victory’s settlement proposals again in 2013 and instead self-released Common Courtesy. This was a very obvious indicator that they never had any intention of settling their lawsuit.”
