Editing Dead Kennedys (section)

=== Royalties lawsuit ===
In the late 1990s, former band members discovered they were being underpaid in terms of royalties from [[Alternative Tentacles]]. East Bay Ray, Klaus Flouride, and D.&nbsp;H. Peligro claimed that Jello Biafra had conspired to pay them lower royalty rates and then attempted to disguise the precise nature of the money owed. Biafra claimed that the failure to pay these royalties was an accounting mistake.<ref>{{cite web |quote=Biafra concealed from the other Decay Music partners an underpayment of royalties (totaling over $110,000, with interest) by ATR to Decay Music dating back to 1989.  When, in early 1998, ATR's then-General Manager, Kristin Von Till, brought the underpayment directly to his attention, Biafra hid the indebtedness from his partners and embarked on a course intended to prevent them from learning or confirming that ATR owed Decay Music these monies. |url=http://www.deadkennedysnews.com/news082802_2.htm#f |title=Biafra's Deception About Underpayment of Royalties. |access-date=February 21, 2012 |archive-date=February 21, 2010 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100221012811/http://www.deadkennedysnews.com/news082802_2.htm#f |url-status=live }}</ref><ref>{{cite web |url=http://www.punknews.org/article/48637/interviews-jello-biafra |title= Punk News Network Interviews: Jello Biafra |publisher= | website= punknews.org |date=August 24, 2012 |access-date=August 25, 2012 |archive-date=August 9, 2014 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20140809234938/http://www.punknews.org/article/48637/interviews-jello-biafra |url-status=live }}</ref>

In 1998, the other three members of the band sued Biafra over these allegedly unpaid royalties. A jury ruled in their favor in May 2000, finding Biafra and Alternative Tentacles "guilty of [[malice (legal term)|malice]], oppression and [[fraud]]".<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/jello-biafra-gets-shot-down-by-dead-kennedys/|title=Jello Biafra Gets Shot Down By Dead Kennedys|date=June 19, 2003|work=blabbermouth.net|access-date=February 4, 2017|archive-date=February 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180202190146/http://www.blabbermouth.net/news/jello-biafra-gets-shot-down-by-dead-kennedys/|url-status=live}}</ref> Malice was defined for the jury as "conduct which is intended to cause injury or despicable conduct which is carried with a willful and conscious disregard for the rights of others".<ref name="bs1">{{cite web |url=http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=17130 |title=Dead Kennedys Plan New Archival Releases Following Judgement Against Former Lead Singer Jello Biafra |publisher= | website= Mi2n.com |date= January 16, 2001 |access-date=June 13, 2011 |archive-date=May 26, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20110526185731/http://mi2n.com/press.php3?press_nb=17130 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Biafra's appeal was denied in June 2003; he had to pay the outstanding royalties as well as punitive damages,<ref name= Verdict2003>[http://www.phillaw.com/casepdfs/Dead%20Kennedys%20Superior%20Court.pdf Dead Kennedys v. Jello Biafra Verdict], Cal.App.1 Dist., 2003 A094272. {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20120227000532/http://www.phillaw.com/casepdfs/Dead%20Kennedys%20Superior%20Court.pdf |date=February 27, 2012 }}</ref> and was forced to hand over the rights to the majority of Dead Kennedys' back catalogue to the Decay Music partnership.<ref name= Verdict2003 /><ref name=":0">{{Cite magazine |last= |first= |last2= |first2= |date=13 July 2004 |title=Biafra Drops Suit Against Ex-Bandmates |url=https://www.billboard.com/music/music-news/biafra-drops-suit-against-ex-bandmates-67364/ |access-date=13 December 2022 |magazine= Billboard |language=en-US}}</ref>

This dispute caused minor waves within punk circles. Biafra claims that East Bay Ray had long expressed displeasure with Alternative Tentacles and with the amount of money he received from them, thus the original incentive for the discovery of the back payments. It was found out that Alternative Tentacles was paying Dead Kennedys less per CD than all the other bands, including Biafra himself, and not informing his other bandmates, which was the fraud. Biafra accused the band of wanting to license the famous Dead Kennedys song "[[Holiday in Cambodia]]" for use in a [[Levi's]] jeans commercial, which the band denied.<ref name="morphizm.com">{{cite web |url=http://www.morphizm.com/recommends/jello2.html |title= 'I'm Not an Ad Man:' Interview with Jello Biafra (con.) |publisher= | website= Morphizm.com |access-date=February 7, 2013 |archive-date=December 21, 2011 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20111221051249/http://www.morphizm.com/recommends/jello2.html |url-status=live }}</ref> However, an instrumental loop from "Holiday in Cambodia" was part of the 1981 [[black comedy]] feature film ''[[Neighbors (1981 film)|Neighbors]]'', though it was not included on the soundtrack. The band maintains that the Levi's story was completely fictitious and invented by Biafra to discredit them.<ref name=":0" />