Judge OKs Trial in Courtney Love Vivendi Claims

In a procedural victory for rock star Courtney Love, a Los Angeles judge Tuesday allowed the majority of the claims in her contract termination suit against Vivendi Universal to move forward to trial.

The action follows a ruling in June in which Superior Court Judge Fumiko Wasserman initially appeared to side with Vivendi Universal, denying 11 of the 15 causes of action listed in Love’s complaint. That ruling stemmed from a motion filed by Vivendi Universal to strike the suit’s 15 claims, contending they were irrelevant and should be disallowed.

But after reviewing new evidence presented in an amended complaint last month by Love and her lawyer, A. Barry Cappello, the judge decided to reverse herself and overrule Vivendi on six of those counts. The judge is now granting Love the right to proceed with 10 claims against Vivendi, including her challenge to a provision in California’s seven-year-statute that could open the door on free agency for recording artists.

“The music industry scoffed at Courtney Love when she first filed her cross complaint, blasting it as ludicrous and frivolous,” Cappello said in an interview. “It seems the judge disagrees with them. And by the time we’re done, I believe the jury will disagree with them as well. This is a case that will affect the record business for many years to come.”

Vivendi Universal officials declined comment Tuesday, but in previous legal papers have dismissed Love’s suit as a “meritless, inflammatory diatribe” designed to “attract media attention.”

The bitter legal dispute began last year when Love notified Vivendi that she intended to leave the company. Vivendi immediately sued Love seeking damages for five undelivered albums under her contract, which the company described as a “fair, industry-standard agreement” that she “willingly” signed.

Love filed her cross complaint in January, contending that she and other artists were forced to sign unconscionable recording contracts that hide profits and cheat artists out of royalty payments. Her suit challenges a plethora of industry practices, including accounting and auditing methods and the standard assignment clause--a provision that allowed the company that owned her contract to sell it without her consent. She also is accusing Vivendi Universal of fraud, breach of contract and breach of fiduciary duty.

Last week, Love filed an additional suit against Vivendi Universal in an effort to gain control over the master recordings of Nirvana, a rock band founded by her deceased husband, Kurt Cobain.

The suit, which also names former Nirvana members Dave Grohl and Krist Novoselic as defendants, accuses Vivendi of devaluing Cobain’s music by distributing unauthorized samples of Nirvana guitar riffs, improperly using Nirvana videos for promotional purposes and failing to pay more than $3 million in Nirvana royalties.