A win for Hawthorne Heights in Victory lawsuit

Though it is not an end of their legal problems, Hawthorne Heights has won a portion of their current lawsuit against former label Victory Records.

There are a number of cases being fought, the first - brought by the band - contends that the band could leave the label due to promotional actions taken by Victory that damaged their reputation.

The label countersued, claiming that the band could not jump ship to sign to EMI, the second involves the label formed by Hawthorne Heights vocalist JT Woodruff and the third involves their new label, EMI.

In this situation, a judge ruled against Victory in a case which could affect the ongoing case with EMI as well. Victory had claimed that Hawthorne Heights were signed to the label and could not leave for EMI, but a judge ruled that Victory did not in fact hold exclusive rights for the band's recording services. Simply put, it means the band can record for any label. The judge explained:

The agreement contains no exclusivity provision, nor does any of its language appear to prevent [the band] from recording elsewhere during the life of the agreement

In short, this means that the band is allowed to sign to EMI, and this case could potentially influence Victory's case against EMI as well.