H.E.R. is taking legal action.
The Grammy award-winning singer, real name Gabriella Sarmiento Wilson, has filed a lawsuit against MBK Entertainment. The record label is owned by Jeff Robinson, her longtime manager.
H.E.R. has reportedly sued for the rights to her music catalog. She was 14 when she signed with Jeff back in 2011.
According to legal documents, she has sued for declaratory relief and violation of the business and professions code. She is seeking to be released from her contract with MBK.
On Thursday (June 16), the lawsuit was filed in the Superior Court in the State of California in Los Angeles County.
All of her music have been released under the MBK logo and distributed by Sony Music’s RCA Records. At this time, it is unclear if her dispute also extends to her contract with Jeff.
In the legal documents, it is noted that the contract makes H.E.R. an “exclusive employee” for an “initial period” that “ended the later of 15 months after May 19, 2011, or 12 months after the commercial release in the United States of Wilson’s first album under the contract, and up to five additional Option Periods of more than one year each.”
Per the filing, the label “significantly limited” her “employment right” and she has “not been free to provide her recording services except as permitted or dictated by MBK.” H.E.R. likewise alleges that MBK “has exclusively owned the right to exploit her name and likeness for her recordings” and that she has “not been free to provide her recording services except as permitted or dictated by MBK.”
She added that her contract now forces her to work “beyond seven years after May 19, 2011” and declared that it violates California Labor Code 2855 which “prohibits the enforcement beyond seven years of a contract (such as the Agreement) to render services of a special, unique, extraordinary or intellectual character.”
The documents reportedly state:
“Wilson’s seven years have run.
MBK’s attempts to thwart this important and fundamental California public policy should not be condoned.”
