NEW YORK (Top40 Charts) -
Weezer's former bassist Matt Sharp has filed a lawsuit against the band over several songs, including the hit "Undone (The Sweater Song)," on
Thursday (April 18) in United States District Court, Central District of California for breach of fiduciary duty, legal malpractice, and dissolution of partnership, declaratory relief, and accounting under the copyright act.
Also named as defendants are the band's former manager Pat Magnarella of Atlas/Third Rail Management and the band's accountants and attorneys.
Sharp claims he cowrote "Undone (The Sweater Song)" from 1994's self-titled (a.k.a., The Blue Album) debut with Weezer singer Rivers Cuomo and drummer Pat Wilson, and that he owns an "undivided 1/3 interest in and to the copyright of that work," according to the suit. "In addition, Cuomo represented to plaintiff that he would receive compensation for his contribution to writing 'Undone,'" continues the suit. "On or about March 20, 1996, however, Cuomo claimed complete ownership in the copyright in and to 'Undone.'"
He makes similar claims to "Butterfly," "Tired of Sex," "Getchoo," "No Other One," "Why Bother?," "Across the Sea," "The Good Life," "El Scorcho," "Pink Triangle," and "Falling for You" from 1996's Pinkerton, as well as the nonalbum tracks "You Gave Your Love to Me Softly," "I Just Threw Out the Love of My Dreams," and "Devotion."
Sharp is asking the court to determine that he is a co-author and co-owner of these songs, that a full accounting of the monies made from the songs be conducted and revealed to him, and that he be paid all sums to which he is due as co-owner of the songs.
According to the filing, Cuomo sent an email to Sharp on April 24, 2001 saying, "It's [sic] looks like we're gonna start making money again so we (you and I) had better get this thing squared away sooner rather than later so the money flows to all the right places without getting hitched up." According to Sharp's claims, to this date, an accounting of the money has not been made.
Sharp appeared on the first two Weezer albums (The Blue Album and Pinkerton) before leaving the band in February 1998. He was replaced by Mikey Welsh in August 2001, who has since been replaced by Scott Shiner. Calls to Weezer's spokesperson were not returned at press time.
Meanwhile, Weezer's next album, Maladroit, is still set for a May 14 release. And, the band posted the list of songs in contention for the fifth album on its official Web site on Monday (April 22). The songs are: "Misstep," "Private Message," "SteamRoller," "Sacrifice," "Yellow Camaro" (written and sung by guitarist Brian Bell), "Modern Dukes," "Superstar," "Buttafuoco," "It's Not So Bad" (written and sung by Wilson), "The Victor," "Prodigy Lover," "Nice to Meet You" (written and sung by Bell), "Booby Trap," "Queen of Earth," "Mo' Beats," "Untenable," "She Who Is Militant," and "Mad Kow."
