DETROIT — Funk legend George Clinton is suing UMG Recordings, claiming the giant music corporation owes him more than $1.1 million in royalties.

In a complaint filed Friday in Detroit's federal court, Clinton says UMG has been withholding 100% of his royalties for more than three years based on the company's involvement in a separate case filed by the estate of a former bandmate.

Clinton, leader of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame collective Parliament-Funkadelic, alleges that he is owed the royalties under longstanding recording agreements covering music he recorded starting in 1969 and into at least the 1990s, including work issued through multiple catalogs now controlled by UMG.

Clinton alleges that UMG is withholding all his royalties based on a separate lawsuit, in which the estate of late Parliament-Funkadelic keyboardist/songwriter Bernie Worrell claims that Clinton deceived Worrell and failed to share millions of dollars generated by dozens of their songs, including hits like "Give Up the Funk," "Flash Light," and "Maggot Brain."

The recordings at issue in Clinton's lawsuit include the Parliament-era recordings he made with Worrell, as well as later solo and production work and collaborations with other acts.

"For example, UMG has frozen tens of thousands of dollars in royalties generated from Clinton’s independent production work for the rock band the Red Hot Chili Peppers," the complaint states. "The (Worrell) Estate has never claimed any interest in those recordings, which were created decades after Bernie Worrell’s involvement with Parliament, on a different label, with different artists, and under a different contract."

While UMG was initially listed as a defendant in the Worrell case, the court dismissed UMG and other music companies from that litigation in 2023, according to Clinton's complaint. The court ruled against Worrell's estate in 2025. That case is currently pending in a federal appeals court, court documents indicate.

Clinton asserts that even if Worrell's estate’s claim were valid, UMG's royalty freeze would only apply to a narrow subset of recordings from around 1976, and only up to a 50% interest.

Under the governing contracts, UMG may only withhold funds “reasonably necessary” to protect against actual “potential liability” tied to the dispute, according to the complaint.

Clinton says withholding 100% of royalties across all accounts is overbroad, contractually unauthorized and a breach of both the binding contracts and implied good faith agreements.

"UMG faces no claim, no demand, no judgment, and no potential liability in the Worrell Litigation," the lawsuit states. "The amount UMG is withholding bears no rational relationship to any 'potential liability in issue.' Indeed, no such potential liability exists at all."

UMG hasn't responded to a message from The Detroit News seeking comment.

The royalty freeze has caused Clinton "severe financial harm," he alleges in the 20-page complaint. He's seeking the unpaid royalties, as well as damages, interest and a court-ordered accounting of activity tied to his accounts with UMG.

The complaint was filed in Detroit's federal court because the Worrell case was filed there and because many of the records at issue were created in Michigan, according to the complaint.

Clinton resides in Florida and UMG is headquartered in California.

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