Judge dismisses vault fire lawsuit against Universal

Judge John A. Kronstadt dismissed the class action lawsuit several artists filed against Universal Music Group because of the big Universal vault fire from 2008 that damaged at least 500,000 high-quality master recordings, Rolling Stone reports. Judge Kronstadt’s decision came after four of the five plaintiffs - Hole, Soundgarden, Steve Earle, and the Tupac Shakur estate - ended up dropping out of the suit. The case rested entirely on the remaining plaintiff: Tom Petty’s ex-wife Jane. Judge Kronstadt finally “dismissed the argument that UMG was obligated to pay Petty a portion of the recovery settlement, which the plaintiff unsuccessfully tried to characterize as a ‘license’ that ought to pay out royalties”. The judge also rejected a bailment argument that Universal failed to care for a valuable in its possession because Universal - and not Petty - actually owned the master tapes. The negligence portion of the suit was thrown out due to Petty’s standing contract with Universal, which never legally specified that Petty would be entitled to revenue from insurance claims.