Madonna sues Warner Music

LOS ANGELES (Madonna Fans Website) - US pop singer Madonna's Maverick Records sued Warner Music Thursday in a lawsuit seeking 200 million US dollars in damages for alleged breach of contract in their joint venture.

The suit asks a judge to terminate Madonna's 11-year-old deal with Warner Music and allow her and business partner Guy Oseary to walk away from Warner with their Maverick assets, such as Alanis Morissette, in tow.
The suit is in response to the complaint Warner filed Wednesday in Delaware, where the company asked a judge to declare that Maverick's allegations that Warner violated the joint venture agreement are baseless.

Maverick alleges that Warner Music and former parent Time Warner failed to abide by their contractual and fiduciary duty, engaging in acts of self-dealing and secret profit-taking, falsely accounting for receipts and expenses of the partnership, sacrificing the interests of the partnership and its partners for defendants' own self financial interests.
The lawsuits follow the breakdown of negotiations over whether Warner will continue to finance Beverly Hills-based Maverick after the end-of-the-year expiration of the partnership.

Madonna and Warner formed Maverick 11 years ago. Under the terms of the deal, Warner has the option to buy out the 60 percent of the label it does not own at the end of 2004.
But for months the sides have dickered over what Maverick is worth.

According to The Los Angeles Times, Madonna and her associates believe their stake is worth about 60 million dollars, but Warner thinks it is worth far less, and claims Maverick has not made money since 1998.