Megadeth released “The Sick, The Dying … And The Dead” last September to positive reviews. One person who isn’t stoked on the latest album, however, appears to be New York-based illustrator and designer Brent Elliot White.
White designed the cover art for the album and has filed a lawsuit against the band claiming he hasn’t received pay or credit for his work.
The Hollywood Reporter reports that White, who has also worked for Trivium, Death Angel and Arch Enemy, among others, says he was contacted by Megadeth in 2020 about creating a design concept for their next album, which he was working on in 2021.
By June of 2020, Megadeth manager Bob Johnson allegedly told White that the band had been working on costumes for an upcoming tour and required additional renderings of the artwork chosen for the album cover because the stage decorations for the tour would be based on the album cover art, according the the lawsuit.
White told Megadeth’s manager he didn’t have a contract and had not been paid for his work.
“I know album release time is hectic but I have to mention that any send off, including album art, is contingent on compensation and contract. So we’re going to have to sort that out soon,” texted White. In response, Johnsen told White: “First song drops tmrw” but assured “No one intended to not have this papered by now” and he “would bring it up the right way.”
Megadeth released the cover art in June of 2022 without a signed agreement, according to the lawsuit, and credited Dave Mustaine for the album’s “Art Concept.”
White reached out again saying: “I still don’t have a contract or payment from UMG for The Sick The Dying and the Dead…Bob [Johnsen] reached out yesterday…and he said he left it with UMG… I assumed someone would reach out to me to have this done before the album went out. Now the art was released in conjunction with the single and album pre-sale on social, website, Rollingstone …None of it credits me, not a mention on social and no credit in the article. We don’t have a contract or art release or usage agreement. Not trying to get legal here but since we don’t have a rights transferred agreement copyright does reside with me.”
White then said Megadeth “attempted to force” him into the same terms as for a previous Megadeth album that he provided art for. White said he “never agreed to these terms” and told Megadeth “before the album artwork was released that this arrangement would not be acceptable.”
White told Johnson he had accrued a total of $21,500 worth of work. Megadeth’s manager agreed to the amount but only if it was a “total buyout” of the material. White refused, and when he gave Megadeth a new price, Megadeth apparently refused yet still used the artwork, hence the lawsuit.
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