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UMG Defense Lawyers Discuss Ruling in Artists' Suit Over Warehouse Fire

By Jenna Greene
May 01, 2020

In April, U.S. District Judge John A. Kronstadt in the Central District of California tossed a six-count, $100 million-complaint against Universal Music Group that was filed after a 2008 warehouse fire that reportedly destroyed master recordings by music legends including Louis Armstrong, Duke Ellington, Chuck Berry, Aretha Franklin, Buddy Holly, Sammy Davis Jr., Joni Mitchell, the Police and Nirvana. Soundgarden v. UMG Recordings Inc., 19-05449.

The class action was originally brought by or on behalf of recording artists. After Judge Kronstadt issued his ruled, Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher partners Scott Edelman and Deborah Stein and associate Nathaniel Bach, who served as defense counsel in the litigation, discussed the case with Jenna Greene, editor of The Litigation Daily, an ALM affiliate publication of Entertainment Law & Finance. (Edelman noted that Gibson Dunn associates Jonathan Soleimani and Daniel Rubin also played key roles in the litigation.)

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