NINE INCH NAILS Mainman Is Victorious In Legal Battle With Former Manager
May 28, 2005According to Hits Daily Double, NINE INCH NAILS mainman Trent Reznor on Friday (May 27) won a resounding victory over former manager and Nothing partner John Malm in a New York Federal court. The jury awarded Reznor on every single claim in his suit, including fraud and breach of fiduciary duty, adding up to $3 million, but interest calculations could potentially double the amount, leaving Malm looking at the possibility of bankruptcy. Reznor also regains 100 percent control of his trademarks.
In May of 2004, Reznor filed suit against Malm, and his business manager/accountant Richard Szekelyi, for several million dollars he said they owed him. Malm had countered that Reznor owed him more than $2 million in unpaid commissions.
Reznor testified earlier in the month that he had as little as $400,000 in cash in 2003 after hundreds of thousands a dollars annually were lost on unnecessary expenses.
Reznor also contended that Malm duped him into signing a contract that allowed the former manager to collect 20 percent of the singer's gross earnings rather than net earnings.
Malm's lawyer, Alan Hirth, elicited through his questioning of Reznor that the singer was actively involved in many of the band's business dealings but sometimes chose not to read contracts and financial information before signing documents.
NINE INCH NAILS' new album, "With Teeth", debuted at Number One on The Billboard 200 chart in its first week of release.
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