Linkin Park files motion to dismiss ex-bassist's royalties lawsuit

Linkin Park is seeking to dismiss a royalties lawsuit filed by former session bassist Kyle Christner, Billboard reports.

Christner briefly played in Linkin Park in the late '90s ahead of the release of their 2000 debut album, Hybrid Theory. In a suit filed in November, Christner claimed that he contributed to recordings included on 2020's expanded 20th anniversary reissue of Hybrid Theory and that he's owed compensation.

According to Billboard, lawyers for Linkin Park have now responded to Christner's suit, arguing that each of his claims "fails" and are "rife with defects." They assert that Christner does not properly identify all the recordings that he claims contain his works and that the statute of limitations has passed on any copyright disputes over the songs that he did clearly name.

"Defendants repudiated Plaintiff's purported ownership in any and all of the works mentioned in the [lawsuit] more than three years before Plaintiff filed this lawsuit -- and indeed for over two decades," the motion to dismiss reads.

An attorney for Christner tells Billboard that they "disagree with the motion and will be opposing it."

"Mr. Christner made valuable contributions to Linkin Park at a pivotal time for the band," the statement reads. "He just wants his creative work acknowledged and compensated."