Dead Kennedys vs. Jello Biafra – Infamous Rock Lawsuits

Punk legends the Dead Kennedys had been broken up for more than a decade when former members East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride and D. H. Peligro noticed that the band's label, Alternative Tentacles, had been shorting them on record royalties to the benefit of frontman Jello Biafra, who also just happened to run the record label. What followed was a very un-punk lawsuit over record royalties and publishing rights, with a jury ruling Biafra had committed fraud and malice and ordering him to pay the other three members nearly $200,000 in damages and punitive fees. Biafra also was forced to hand over the rights to the majority of Dead Kennedys' back catalog.