SNEAK PEEK
- 3LAU has earned $11.7 million from an NFT auction linked to his album, Ultraviolet.
- The DJ has been accused by a co-writer who supported him for the song, Walk Away.
- The lawsuit didn’t mention how much Aura thinks as the justified cut from the NFTs though it asked for an accounting to calculate how much is payable.
3LAU whose real name is Justin Blau, is going through a new lawsuit according to which, the DJ has denied to appropriately share the earnings generated from an NFT auction worth $11 million with a musical partner who co-authored one of the songs that was involved.
The complaint was filed on November 9 in New York federal court by Luna Aura whose real name is Angela Anne Flores. Aura has claimed that she owns a 50% royalty stake in the song, Walk Away, that belongs to the album, Ultraviolet. However, 3LAU offered her just $25,000 from the auction. Also, the payment is just one-time.
Andrew Goldstone, 3LAU’s manager, has denied the allegations. He said that the claims lack merit and they will defend the lawsuit that has been filed with no prior notice. To approach NFT projects like this that have a lot more than music, there are no fixed standards. He added that Justin’s team tried to conclude a deal with Flores for months but got no response. Instead, all they have got is the lawsuit.
3LAU’s auction in February last year was equally notable despite the fever-dream madness for non-fungible tokens. Upon the selling of 33 collectible tokens that were connected to the album Ultraviolet, $11.7 million were raked by the DJ-producer. The tokens awarded the buyers with access to vinyl copies of unlaunched music along with other unique experiences.
However, as per the lawsuit, he did not share the profits with the person who actually supported him in making the album. Luna Aura said that the auction was organized without informing her and the sale has violated her 2017 agreement with 3LAU. According to the agreement, she was assured 50% publishing royalty on the song.
Her lawyers wrote that no compensation has been made to her from the money made from the NFT project. Also, she has not received proper credit with the song as well as Ultraviolet NFTs. Even after the financial and commercial success of the auction, she was offered only a one-time payment.
