November 29, 2005

Chad Kroeger Wants His Nickels Back From Ex-Drummer

By James Montgomery (MTV.com)

Note to all former members of Nickelback: Never, ever get on frontman Chad Kroeger's bad side, because the dude will make you pay.

Or, in the case of former drummer Ryan Vikedal, the dude will try to make it so you never get paid again. On November 18 Kroeger filed a claim against Vikedal in Vancouver, British Columbia, Supreme Court, in an attempt to stop him from collecting royalties from the public performance of some of Nickelback's biggest hits.

In the suit, Kroeger claims he is the sole author and "maker" of Nickelback's songs, and as such, he and his production company, Arm Your Dillo Publishing Inc., are suing Vikedal for royalties received since he stopped being the band's drummer in January.

Vikedal worked on Nickelback's The State (2000), Silver Side Up (2001) and The Long Road (2003) before parting under less-than-friendly circumstances. He told the Edmonton Sun he was fired just as Nickelback began work on their new album, All the Right Reasons.

The suit claims that while Vikedal was with the band, he received small percentages of the public-performance royalties of many Nickelback songs - for example, he got 6.5 percent for the band's breakthrough single, "How You Remind Me" - but that when he left the band, he forfeited his right to any future royalties.

Kroeger had demanded that Vikedal and his production company, Ladekiv Music Inc., sign registration forms with the Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada - the copyright collective that administers the performing rights of music in Canada - returning their interests in future performance royalties and repaying any royalties received since January.

No dollar amounts were mentioned in the suit, and Kroeger's attorney Scott Stanley had no comment on the matter. Nickelback's label, Roadrunner Records, also declined to comment.

All the Right Reasons, which saw former 3 Doors Down drummer Daniel Adair replacing Vikedal behind the kit, debuted at #1 on the Billboard albums chart in October and has sold more than 1 million copies.