Capitol Records Sues Leto Brothers For 30 Million

Eagerly awaiting the next 30 Seconds To Mars album? So are Virgin Records, the band’s record company.

In 1999, Jared Leto and brother Shannon Leto signed a contract with Immortal Records, which was then taken over by Capitol Records Group, Virgin’s parent company. They agreed to produce five albums for the company, but this July decided to opt out of the contract, citing part of the California Labor Code which states "a contract cannot be enforced against an employee beyond seven years", as a loop-hole.

Capitol Records is suing the Leto brothers for more than 30 million dollars for the breach of contract, saying that while the band may be allowed to break contract after seven years, they are still allowed to sue for earnings lost.

A representative for 30 Seconds to Mars says that the band members, now just the trio of Shannon, Jared and Tom Milicevic, are the ones who have been short handed, claiming that they have not been paid for the 2 million albums sold.

The Leto brothers released their self-titled debut album in 2002, along with Matt Wachter – keyboard/synth and Solon Bixter – guitar, with Shannon playing drums and Jared on lead vocals and guitar. The album was produced by Bob Ezrin (Pink Floyd, Lou Reed, Nine Inch Nails) and was released to mixed reviews, only selling just over 100,000 copies.

Their sophomore album, A Beautiful Lie, was released in 2005 to much greater approval, selling over one million copies, achieving Platinum Record status. The album was recorded in several different countries, due to Jared’s movie career, and was produced by Josh Abraham (Weezer, From First To Last, Alkaline Trio). Much to the band’s dismay, the record was leaked by file-sharing sites almost five months before its intended release.

In a current interview with MTV, Jared announced that the band were in the middle of writing their third album, but it is unknown how the lawsuit will affect its release.