California appeals court sides with The Offspring in long-running lawsuit filed by ex-drummer Ron Weltyrejecting his claims that he was owed millions more than the punk band's $35 million in catalog sales.
Welty's lawsuit denounced that singer Bryan “Dexter” Holland attempted to “wipe out” his Offspring contributions, including by countering him with proceeds from the band's 2015 catalog sale to Round Hill Music. But a Los Angeles judge dismissed those charges last year.
In a ruling Wednesday, the California Court of Appeals upheld that ruling, saying there was “no reversible error” in the lower judge's ruling. Welty raised several challenges to how the lower judge handled the case, but the appeals court was not persuaded by any of them: “The judgment and order are affirmed.
Welty joined The Offspring in 1987 and served as the band's drummer during its heyday, including the 1998 album American which reached No. 2 on the Billboard 200, before leaving the band in 2003 on undisclosed terms.
In his sweeping 2020 lawsuit, Welty accused Holland and the other members of multiple forms of wrongdoing: “This lawsuit seeks, among other things, relief for The Offspring's failure to pay Mr. Welty his rightful share of the band's earnings and a prohibition against them. continued attempts to harm Mr. Welty, his legacy with the band and his ongoing career.”
Among other claims, Welty claimed he was entitled to a bigger cut of the Round Hill deal, in which the label paid $20 million for the rights to the band's master recordings—split among the band's principal performers—and another $15 million for the issue rights, paid directly to the Netherlands.
Welty claimed he deserved some of that money for the publication and argued in his lawsuit that he was owed at least $2.8 million more than the Round Hill transaction. But in a bench trial in 2022, Judge William F. Fahey he largely rejected these accusations, calling them “utterly absurd”. During the proceedings, other members of The Offspring had testified that the structure of the deal was fair since Holland had written all of the band's music.
In a written decision last year, Fahey ruled that the deal was “structured according to industry standards” and that Welty had failed to prove he was entitled to a cut of Holland's $15 million: “It is difficult to even imagine a reason why these the other two band members would agree to such a structure, unless they believed that Holland was the creator and owner of the musical compositions.”
In March, the judge issued a final ruling in favor of the band, upholding the earlier rulings and dismissing Welty's remaining claims. It was that decision that was upheld in Wednesday's ruling at the appeals court.
After the decision, Welty's lawyer, Jordanna G. Thigpenshe said her client had “great respect” for the appellate court but was “considering the next step of appellate review.” Howard Kingattorney for The Offspring, declined to comment.
