Donald Glover filed a lawsuit on Friday against his former label Glassnote Records as part of a royalties disagreement, according to Pitchfork.
Glover alleges that the independent label is obligated to pay him over $10,000 from streaming royalties and has continually miscalculated payments, violating their licensing agreement. The suit asserts breaches of contract, negligence, fair dealing, good faith, and fiduciary duty.
Glover’s lawsuit is a reaction to Glassnote’s July complaint, which asked for a judge to act as mediator in court during the contract dispute.
“Donald Glover made a claim that he was owed 95% of SoundExchange royalties when we are legislatively and contractually required to share those royalties 50/45,” a Glassnote representative told Pitchfork this summer. “We are not asking for anything back from Donald Glover, just that we are able to retain the monies that are contractually and legally ours and that have already been paid to us.”
In Glover’s suit, he refutes the claims Glassnote made in that complaint, maintaining that the label has held on to 100 percent of Glover’s net SoundExchange royalties. He’s requesting his royalties, that the label’s complaint be dismissed, and payment for damages.
Glover released Camp, Because the Internet, and “Awaken, My Love!” via Glassnote, from 2011 to 2016. He signed to RCA in January 2018.
Word of the lawsuit comes the same day he performed at the Madison Square Garden stop of his This Is America tour, where he previewed a new song.
