Legal representatives for Linkin Park have filed a motion to have a copyright dispute filed against them by their ex-bassist Kyle Christner dismissed. Christner, who briefly was a member of the band around 1998 to 1999, filed suit against the band, their label and other related parties last year.
He claimed that he was improperly uncredited for his input and playing on select songs crafted by the band in their early days and as a result didn’t receive the financial compensation he feels he was owed.
Chief among the dispute is a number of rarities and early demos that were included with the 20th anniversary deluxe edition of Linkin Park‘s diamond-certified debut album “Hybrid Theory“. That expanded edition was issued back in 2020. Christner claimed to have involvement in the following tracks:
“Hybrid Theory” EP:
- “Carousel“
- “Technique“
- “Step Up“
- “And One“
- “High Voltage“
- “Part Of Me“
“Forgotten Demos“:
- “Pictureboard“
- “She Couldn’t“
- “Could Have Been“
- “Rhinestone” (Xero demo)
- “Esaul” (Xero demo)
- “Stick N’ Move” (demo)
- “Carousel” (demo)
- “Point Of Authority” (demo)
- “Crawling” (demo)
- “SuperXero” (“By Myself” demo)
LPU Rarities:
- “In the End” (demo)
- “Dedicated” (1999 demo)
- “Esaul” (“A Place for My Head” demo)
- “Forgotten” (demo)
- “Sad” (“By Myself” demo 1999)
- “Blue” (unreleased demo 1998)
- “Chair” (1999 “Part of Me” demo)
“B-Side Rarities“:
- “Step Up” (1999 demo)
He claims that only recognized for his input on nine of the aforementioned tracks, and that he was given the cold shoulder by the band’s camp after voicing his complaints. Now Billboard.com report that the band filed a motion to have the case dismissed yesterday, March 05th, citing concerns over the statute of limitations and more. Copyright dispute generally need to be filed within a period of three years.
The group’s legal representatives also dispute the nature of Christners‘s involvement on a number of the tracks, citing allegedly shaky statements and more. According to the motion to dismiss, “Defendants repudiated Plaintiff’s purported ownership in any and all of the works mentioned in the [lawsuit] more than three years before Plaintiff filed this lawsuit — and indeed for over two decades.”
Christner intends to dispute the motion and is seeking proper credit and financial compensation for the songs he claims to have been involved with.
