Victory Records sues major label over Hawthorne Heights

The legal battle between Hawthorne Heights and Victory Records now involves a third party. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Victory filed suit against Virgin Records and its parent company, EMI Music, last Thursday (November 2nd) in a Chicago federal court. Victory's suit charges Virgin and EMI with "tortuous interference with contractual relations" and seeks at least $10 million in compensatory damages and another $10 million in punitive damages. Victory alleges that Virgin signed Hawthorne Heights to a new deal even though the band was still obligated to record for Victory, leading the band to sue Victory in an effort to break its contract.

A judge threw out two of the three main counts in Hawthorne Heights' suit against Victory last month in Chicago's U.S. District Court, saying that the band's motion to end its contract was "not legally sound." Several other counts remain to be decided.

Victory is pursuing its own countersuit against Hawthorne Heights and claims the band owes the label two more albums.

Hawthorne Heights is currently headlining this year's Nintendo Fusion Tour, which stops on Monday, November 6th, in Maplewood, Minnesota.