The creator of the Nickelodeon series Big Time Rush has reached a legal settlement with Sony Music Entertainment over financial splits from the recent reunion of the TV show’s eponymous boy band.
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Scott Fellows, who created the hit show about a fictional boy band that ran on Nickelodeon from 2009 to 2013, sued Sony this past summer, alleging the major music company nefariously structured Big Time Rush’s 2021 reunion deal to cut him out of touring revenues. Now, a Thursday (Jan. 29) federal court notice says the matter has been resolved.
“The parties have reached a settlement in [principle] of the above-titled matter,” reads the joint filing from Fellows and Sony, which does not spell out any terms of the resolution. Reps for both sides did not immediately return requests for comment on the matter.
The real-life members of Big Time Rush released music and toured under a deal with Sony during the heyday of their Nickelodeon show. According to Fellows’ lawsuit, this deal gave him 3.75% of the band’s touring revenue until its members went their separate ways in 2014.
Big Time Rush reunited in 2021, but this time they opted to go independent. Fellows claims the band licensed its trademarks and catalog in exchange for giving Nickelodeon and Sony 10% of future revenues — but that Sony intentionally wrote the terms of this licensing deal to eliminate his share of the profits.
Fellows’ lawsuit sought to recoup a 3.75% share of the earnings from Big Time Rush’s 2022 reunion tour and the ongoing In Real Life World Tour, which kicked off in July and is set to run through March.
Big Time Rush the band was not named in the lawsuit or accused of any wrong-doing. Reps for the group did not return a request for comment on the settlement.