Linkin Park and Ex-Bassist Kyle Christner Settle Lawsuit

A
lawsuit
between

Linkin
Park
and
their
former
bassist
Kyle
Christner
over
writing
credits
and
unpaid
royalties
reached
an
“amicable
resolution”,
according
to
the
band
and
their
label
Warner
Records.

Originally
filed
in
the
U.S.
District
Court
for
the
Central
District
Of
California
last
November,
the
suit

pertained
to
music
that
was
written
in
the
late
90s
and
then
included
in
the
20th
anniversary
box
set
of

Hybrid
Theory.
More
specifically,
the
suit
pointed
to
Christner’s
contributions
to
“more
than
twenty
songs,”
which
included
the
previously
unreleased
track
“Could
Have
Been.”

Earlier
today,
Linkin
Park
issued
a
statement
announcing
the
settlement
between
both
parties.

“We
are
pleased
to
announce
that
we
have
reached
an
amicable
resolution
with
bass
guitarist
Kyle
Christner.
Kyle
is
a
very
talented
musician
who
made
valuable
contributions
to
Linkin
Park
at
a
pivotal
time
in
1999.
He
performed
with
the
band
in
several
shows
and
many
record
label
showcases.
Kyle
helped
write
and
performed
on
many
songs
from
that
era,
including
some
of
the
songs
on
the
Hybrid
Theory
EP.”

Previously,
the
band
tried
to
have
the
case
dismissed
by
claiming
the
former
band
member’s
complaint
was
“rife
with
defects”
while
questioning
why
he
only
filed
his
lawsuit
two
decades
after
the
fact.
Pointing
to
that
gap
in
time,
lawyers
also
contested
that
the
lawsuit
should
be
thrown
out
due
to
the
statute
of
limitations,
pointing
to
the
fact
that
copyright
lawsuits
need
to
be
filed
in
the
first
three
years.

All
in
all,
the
lawsuit
alleged
that
Christner
played
on
the
following
tracks
in
the
box
set:
“Could
Have
Been,”
“She
Couldn’t,”
“Chair,”
and
“Step
Up.”
He
also
alleged
that
his
bass
tracks
can
be
heard
on
tracks
2,
3,
4,
6,
7,
8,
9,
10,
11,
and
12
of

Forgotten
Demos,
tracks
1,
2,
7,
13,
14,
16,
17
of

LPU
Rarities,
and
track
7
of

B-Side
Rarities,
as
well
as
the

Hybrid
Theory
EP.
That
last
part
was
particularly
problematic,
seeing
as
Christner
alleged
that
he
was
told
the
band
had
re-recorded
his
bass
parts,
but
later
found
out
that
had
not
been
the
case.

Now
that
the
lawsuit
is
concluded,
I’m
pretty
sure
we
can
assume
that
Christner
got
a
nice
payday
to
not
take
the
lawsuit
to
trial.
Regardless,
it’s
a
pretty
good
outcome
for
a
dude
that’s
been
out
of
one
of
the
biggest
bands
of
the
2000s
since
1999.