Insane Clown Posse's record label faces federal copyright lawsuit in Cleveland

Midnight Syndicate is suing Jumpsteady and Psychopathic Records for copyright violations. In the lawsuit, Midnight Syndicate claims Jumpsteady used samples from 31 their songs on his 2013 spoken-word album "The Road and Other True Stories." The Midnight Syndicate is demanding $9.3 million, the maximum allowed for the total amount of alleged violations. You can read the full pdf of the lawsuit by CLICKING HERE. Psychopathic Records has not released a statement about the lawsuit at this time of this post. From cleveland.com:

CLEVELAND, Ohio -- The Midnight Syndicate -- a Chardon-based band renowned for its creepy, gothic-tinged music -- is suing a record label run by hip-hop duo Insane Clown Posse for what it says is the unlicensed use of its songs. The suit, filed Friday in the Northern District of Ohio by the band's company, Entity Production, accuses rapper Jumpsteady -- real name Robert Bruce -- of using samples from 31 Midnight Syndicate songs on his 2013 spoken-word album "The Road and Other True Stories." The lawsuit says the album's liner notes "brazenly" claims Bruce's younger brother and Insane Clown Posse member Joseph "Violent J" Bruce mostly created the album's music along with Brian Kuma. The suit alleges that the "vast majority" of the music on "The Road" -- 65 minutes and nine seconds, to be exact -- came from unauthorized samples of Midnight Syndicate songs. The Insane Clown Posse's label, Psychopathic Records, is also named as a defendant in the suit. Robert Bruce is a co-owner of the Michigan-based label. The Midnight Syndicate is demanding $9.3 million, the maximum allowed for the total amount of alleged violations, and to bar the label from distributing or performing any of Jumpsteady's music that uses The Midnight Syndicate's without permission. The case was assigned to U.S. District Judge Patricia Gaughan. The Midnight Syndicate is the name used by keyboardists and composers Edward Douglas and Gavin Goszka. It formed in 1998 and is known for its gothic-themed soundtracks, used worldwide in movies, video games and haunted houses. The band also sued Insane Clown Posse in 2011 for copyright violations. The case was settled out of court. Entity Production's attorney, Mark Avsec of Cleveland, did not return a phone call. The Insane Clown Posse, which also includes Joseph "Shaggy 2 Dope" Utsler, has gained notoriety through songs that often have over-the-top violent lyrics. Its musical empire has grown, though, as the band and Robert Bruce have signed similar artists to Psychopathic Records. Its fanbase, known as "Juggalos", attend concerts with their faces painted like those in the band. The band's annual "Gathering of the Juggalos" festival was held in Thornville in July and will be back again this year. The FBI labeled the Juggalos as a "hybrid gang" in 2011, citing in a report that many of the fans "exhibit gang-like behavior and engage in criminal activity and violence." The band has fought this by suing the agency, but a federal judge in Detroit dismissed its case in June. Messages left for Psychopathic Records were not immediately returned.