DreamWorks Counter-Sues Imago: Grammy-winning singer Henry Rollins...

DreamWorks Counter-Sues Imago: Grammy-winning singer Henry Rollins and DreamWorks SKG filed a multimillion-dollar fraud lawsuit Monday in New York against Imago Records, alleging that the tiny label treats artists like “chattel” and “coerced” Rollins into signing an “unfair and inequitable agreement.” The suit comes just two months after Imago filed a contractual interference claim against DreamWorks, accusing the firm of inducing Rollins to breach his Imago recording agreement after delivering only two of the eight albums required under it. Rollins notified Imago last summer that he was terminating his deal, claiming that the contract he signed was void after the label severed ties on Dec. 31, 1994, with Bertelsmann Music Group, the giant global conglomerate that funded Imago and manufactured, marketed and distributed its albums. The singer weighed offers in late 1995 from Virgin Records and Sony Music before signing a multimillion-dollar pact five months ago with DreamWorks, the entertainment firm owned by Steven Spielberg, Jeffrey Katzenberg and David Geffen.