Smashing Pumpkins Sue Virgin Records
Tuesday March 25, 2008 @ 03:00 PM
By: ChartAttack.com Staff

Smashing Pumpkins, back in the day

Smashing Pumpkins have sued Virgin Records, saying their name and music have been used illegally in promotional deals that hurt their credibility. That must also mean that Billy Corgan believes that he still has credibility.

The group filed a breach-of-contract lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court on Monday, saying they worked hard for over 20 years to gain goodwill in the eyes of the public. They claim that Virgin's use of their music in a "Pepsi Stuff" promotion with Amazon.com and Pepsi Co. threatened their reputation for "artistic integrity" — like last year's exclusive retail deals with Target, Best Buy and iTunes didn't already throw that out the window.

Virgin was the band's label for more than 17 years, but the lawsuit claims their current agreement only grants the company permission to sell songs as digital downloads and doesn't give it the right to use their material in promotional campaigns to sell outside products. The lawsuit says they would "never grant such authority to Virgin, or any other entity."

The suit demands that Virgin pay with the profits earned in the promotion and that an injunction be enforced against using the Pumpkins' name or music in the future.

Pumpkins drummer Jimmy Chamberlin said in a blog post on Monday that the band may not use the "album" or "full length CD" as a format anymore, but "WE WILL WRITE AND RECORD MUSIC UNTIL WE ARE DEAD!!!!!!!! WE ARE NOT GOING AWAY!!!!!!!!"

The Pumpkins headlined Toronto's Virgin Festival last September and will do the same on the V-Fest tour across Australia that begins later this month.

—Jessica Lewis