Allman Brothers Battling Universal in Royalty Lawsuit

Look for the Allman Brothers Band to duke it out in court next year with Universal Music Group to finally settle a dispute over unpaid royalties. According to the Wall Street Journal, a federal district judge ordered both parties to start gathering evidence for a jury trial planned for early 2010.

The new development follows an August 2008 lawsuit that current and former members of the group -- Gregg Allman, Butch Trucks, Jaimoe Johnson and Dickey Betts -- filed after the label refused to give the legendary jam band its fair share of licensing fees collected on parts of the Allmans' back catalog.

"UMG had nothing to do with the creation of these recordings, incurred no risk or cost, and never had to spend a dime marketing them or promoting the band," the Allman Brothers Band's manager Bert Holman in a statement yesterday. "It is outrageous that UMG refuses to honor its contract with the band and pay a fair share of the money it receives when it licenses the recordings to third parties like iTunes and simply sits back and collects a fee whenever iTunes licenses a download."

Universal Music Group's predecessor, Polygram Records, first picked up the band's early recordings -- including classics like 1972's 'Eat A Peach' and 1973's 'Brothers and Sisters' -- during an auction of Capricorn Records' assets back in 1979. Capricorn, which also counted the Marshall Tucker Band and Elvin Bishop on its roster, was launched as an independent label in Macon, Ga., and thrived for the better part of a decade before it met with financial ruin.