Producer Jermaine Dupri and his label So-So Def Recordings have filed a lawsuit against Sony Music Entertainment, alleging that the company owes them more than $18 million in unpaid royalties tied to albums by Mariah Carey, Usher and others. The suit, filed on 7 July and obtained by Billboard, accuses Sony of a "systemic pattern" of "contemptuous accounting practices" used to underpay royalties over many years, drawing on a business relationship that spanned more than three decades.

Dupri, who wrote and produced Kris Kross's 1992 hit "Jump", founded So-So Def in 1993 as a joint venture with Columbia and Sony before the partnership ended in 2002. The lawsuit covers music by Kris Kross, Xscape, Bow Wow, Da Brat, J-Kwon, Bone Crusher and Dupri himself, alleging failures such as never reporting producer royalties for Kris Kross's first two albums (worth over $2 million), improperly cross-collateralising unrecouped balances, and claiming Xscape still carries $1.5 million in unrecouped advances despite two platinum albums. Dupri also accuses Sony of concealing its conduct, and says more than $10 million in interest is owed. Sony has not commented in the article.