Adam Lambert Should Have Been DQ’d From Idol Says Lawsuit

More details have emerged on the nature of the recent lawsuit filed against Adam Lambert via The Hollywood Reporter.

A new lawsuit suggests that Adam Lambert may have violated the rules of American Idol when he agreed to appear on the eighth season of the hit reality competition show. The singer is now facing a lawsuit that alleges that he’s still under a Music Services Agreement and a Co-publishing Agreement from a company he worked with prior to hitting it big on Idol, and that he has violated the company’s rights in his mega-selling post-Idol career.

The claims come from Colwel Platinum Entertainment, which has been marketing a new Lambert album entitled Beg For Mercy.

The lawsuit seems to be in retaliation for the takedown notices Adam’s reps sent to Amazon.com, which had the album up for sale.

From the lawsuit:

“Upon further information and belief, the rules governing appearances on and participation in American Idol when Lambert was a contestant provided, among other things, that contestants were ineligible if ‘as of the date of [the] audition, [they had]…a music recording contract…or any other contractual arrangement that would prohibit [them] from entering into a…recording contract…” A violation of this provision was grounds for disqualification.”

The suit claims that Adam had entered an agreement with Welsford Music Productions a few months prior to auditioning with Idol and is still contractually bound by the agreement.  Hence, Adam was violating American Idol rules, which state that a contestant can’t be signed to management or a record deal at the time they compete.

“Upon information and belief, Lambert, through his authorized agent and representative, knowingly materially misrepresented to Amazon.com in the ‘takedown notice’ that Amazon’s promotion and sale of the Album infringe Lambert’s rights.”

The lawsuit is also looking to seeking declaratory relief that it owns a 50% publishing share of the recordings, that it has an unconditional right to promote and sell the recordings, that neither the Music Services Agreement nor the Co-Publishing Agreement was validly rescinded, and that these agreements remain in effect.

There’s so much here that doesn’t pass the smell test. Colwel is claiming 3 years later that they still have an agreement with Adam? Why didn’t they step up when he was a contestant on the show? Probably because they figured they could make a buck off him if they played nice. And that there claims to him probably have no merit. I can’t imagine Idol lawyers NOT thoroughly vetting that situation.

Ugh. I’ve been sued by money-grubbing sleazebags myself, so I feel Adam’s pain.  I hope his attorney squashes Colwel like a bug.

About mj santilli 34831 Articles
Founder and editor of mjsbigblog.com, home of the awesomest fan community on the net. I love cheesy singing shows of all kinds, whether reality or scripted. I adore American Idol, but also love The Voice, Glee, X Factor and more!