Rock band Lit have reached a settlement to end their $800,000 lawsuit against Sony Music over streaming royalties for their 1990s catalogue. A court filing dated Tuesday 7 July, first reported by Billboard, states that Sony has agreed a "settlement in principle" with frontman A. Jay Popoff, guitarist Jeremy Popoff, bassist Kevin Baldes and the estate of the band's late drummer, Allen Shellenberger. The dispute matters because it hinged on an unusually prescient contract clause written years before mainstream music streaming existed.

Lit, best known for the 1999 hit "My Own Worst Enemy", sued Sony in March seeking a larger share of their streaming income. Sony's RCA Records had been paying a basic 14% US recorded royalty rate, but the band argued that a clause in their 1998 deal entitled them to 50% of net proceeds from master use licences — with the contract explicitly citing "streaming" formats as an example, despite the technology being in its infancy at the time. The band claimed this language meant they had been underpaid by $800,000. A written settlement is now being finalised, its terms undisclosed, and a judge closed the case on Tuesday.