Weird Al Yankovic Sues Sony for $5M Over Royalties, YouTube Videos

"Weird Al" Yankovic's company is gearing up for legal action against Sony Music Group. The Weird Al lawsuit alleges that the music company ripped off the funnyman to the tune of more than $5 million. Ear Booker Enterprises (Yankovic's company) accuses Sony of contract breach and other unfair business dealings, the Chicago Tribune website reports. Ear Booker filed the suit in the U.S. District Court in New York. Though Yankovic (born Alfred Matthew Yankovic) is known for his off-beat musical parodies, the singer/actor/comedian's company doesn't appear to be playing around this time. Yankovic's company claims Sony incorrectly reported the amount of the performer's products sold, resulting in a lower payout to Yankovic's company. The lawsuit also claims that Ear Booker is entitled to $2.5 million from Google's purchase of Sony's YouTube stock shares back in 2006. Yankovic's company says it's owed a portion of these earnings because of the popularity of Yankovic's music videos on the website at the time of the sale. Ear Booker alleges Sony actions constitute a breach of the implied duty of good faith and fair dealing, The Christian Post reports. The implied duty of good faith and fair dealing is a term included automatically in every contract. It basically prevents either party from purposely doing anything to cause the other to not get what they're owed under a contract. Here's a good example: A man agrees to pay a woman for mowing his lawn when his watch reaches noon. But instead, in order to not pay, the man breaks his watch so that noon will never show on his watch. In essence, Yankovic's company is alleging that it held up it's part of the bargain, but Sony purposely didn't do the same. We'll have to wait and see if Weird Al gets anywhere in his company's lawsuit against Sony. Related Resources:

• "Weird Al" Yankovic Sues Sony for $5 Million Citing Bad Business Practices (The Christian Post)
• "Weird Al" Yankovic News (FindLaw's Legal Pulse)
• Fraud Law (FindLaw)