Soundgarden and the estate of late rapper Tupac Shakur have pulled out of a class action suit against Universal Music Group over alleged damages sustained in a 2008 vault fire.
The notice of voluntary dismissal was filed Friday (March 13th) and states that the two parties “hereby dismiss without prejudice their individual claims, and withdraw as a putative class representative.” But the notice also states, “These two plaintiffs reserve their rights to proceed in this matter as absent class members.”
Lawyers on both sides had no comment on the matter. Just two of the original five plaintiffs, Steve Earle and the estate of Tom Petty, are left on the lawsuit. A fifth, Hole, left last August after being assured that none of the band's master recordings were destroyed.
Soundgarden was previously informed in 2015 that it had lost some stereo master recordings related to its 1991 album Badmotorfinger in the fire.
The 2008 fire at a vault on the Universal Studios lot reportedly destroyed thousands of recordings, including original master tapes from scores of classic artists.
