Sanctuary Hit With $50M Suit

Sanctuary Records Group has been sued for more than $50 million in Los Angeles Superior Court by 5.1 Label Group, a company that manufactures CDs in DualDisc format.

The suit claims Sanctuary failed to deliver on a promised 220 albums to 5.1. At least 140 of those were to have been released in DualDisc format.

The terms were part of an amended agreement filed in September 2003 between the companies.

The amendment was breached, according to a 5.1 press release, because Sanctuary had “failed and refused” to deliver “any of the top-line albums in its catalog, including those of Journey, Alison Moyet, Morrissey, Robert Plant, Meat Loaf, Black Sabbath, Emerson Lake & Palmer, and Eric Clapton among others.”

The suit also alleges Sanctuary intended to induce 5.1 to enter into the amendment prior to the end of September 2003 “for the purpose of inflating its financial performance for its fiscal year.”