Interscope Records sued Summer Walker on October 9, 2026, in Los Angeles County Superior Court, claiming more than $50 million after she gave notice that she would stop working under her 2017 deal on August 27, citing California's seven-year rule. The label says she still owes two studio albums and an EP. She says she will fight it and countersue.
For anyone about to sign a first contract, it is a clean lesson in one California law most young artists never read.
What is California's seven-year rule?
Section 2855 of the California Labor Code says a contract to render personal service “may not be enforced against the employee beyond seven years from the commencement of service under it.” Music Business Worldwide notes the rule is best known from actress Olivia de Havilland's 1944 court win over Warner Bros. In plain terms: in California, nobody can be held to a personal-services contract forever.
Record deals, though, are usually counted in albums, not years. A five-album deal can easily outlast seven years.
What did the 1987 amendment change?
In 1987 the state added subdivision (b), a carve-out for recording artists that MBW reports the RIAA lobbied for. An artist can still walk away after seven years, but only after written notice naming a future date. And if the contract required a set number of records that were not delivered by that date, the label “shall have the right to recover damages for each phonorecord” it did not get, as long as it sues within 45 days.
The door opens at year seven. The bill for every unmade album is waiting on the other side.
That 45-day clock is why this suit landed when it did. Interscope's spokesperson told Rolling Stone that “the statutory deadline makes it necessary to file suit in order to preserve the terms of our contract.”
What does Interscope say Summer Walker owes?
According to the seven-page complaint, as reported by Rolling Stone and MBW, her 2017 deal with Interscope and the Atlanta company LVRN, plus later amendments, called for five studio albums. Interscope counts three: Over It (2019), Still Over It (2021) and Finally Over It (2025). Her 2018 mixtape Last Day of Summer and 2019 EP CLEAR are classed as “pre-album projects” that do not count. The complaint says UMG “is entitled to recover damages in excess of $50,000,000 for the undelivered recordings,” with the final figure to be set at trial.
Rolling Stone has reported the final contract set an initial advance of just $110,000 and a 16 percent royalty on her first two albums, paid only after her advance and other charged costs were recouped. Digital Music News reports Interscope's position that those terms fit an earlier-stage artist and that it invested heavily in her career.
What is Summer Walker's side?
Her attorney, Keith Moten, told Rolling Stone the team is “confident in Summer's legal position and her right to challenge the continued enforceability of her recording contract with Interscope,” and intends to “vigorously defend against Interscope's claims and pursue appropriate legal relief.” He said she plans to countersue but “remains open to a constructive resolution.”
Who else has tested the rule?
| Year | Artist and label | What was reported |
|---|---|---|
| 2000 | Courtney Love and Hole, Geffen/UMG | Sued over undelivered albums; Love cited the statute in a countersuit; settled (MBW) |
| 2008 | Thirty Seconds to Mars, Virgin/EMI | $30 million suit; band said it signed nine years earlier and was free; settled, per MBW (Rolling Stone) |
| 2016 | Avenged Sevenfold, Warner Bros. Records | Band gave notice in late 2015; Warner sued 39 days after receiving it, saying a live album was still owed (Billboard via Blabbermouth) |
| 2026 | Fuerza Regida, Rancho Humilde | In July a federal judge refused to dismiss the band's claim that the rule freed it, without deciding whether it is free (MBW) |
Settlement, not a verdict, is the recurring ending. MBW reports that artist advocates have repeatedly failed to get the 1987 amendment repealed, while the RIAA argues it protects label investment in new acts.
What does this mean for an artist signing a first deal?
The lesson is in the counting. Walker's case turns on which releases count as albums, how many the deal required, and what each missing one is worth. Those same variables sit in every first contract, and the seven-year rule does not erase them. A deal counted in years rather than albums leaves no quota to bill. It is the same arithmetic behind poutyface's exit from Island, DeathbyRomy's turn after a bad deal and JVKE's ten-million-dollar no.
The next step belongs to Walker's lawyers: a response, and the promised countersuit, in Los Angeles County Superior Court.