Rita Ora is taking
legal action to try to leave Jay Z's Roc Nation record label and is claiming
that the company has an illegal contract with her.
The 25-year-old singer
joined the company aged 18 and was one of the rapper's first signings.
On Thursday she filed
papers at the Los Angeles Superior Court saying that her contract is
"unenforceable".
Since her signing, the
X Factor judge has only released one self-titled album, her debut in 2012.
She is claiming the
company's "other" interests has left her forgotten about and
describes herself as being "orphaned" by Roc Nation.
Aside from being a
record label, the company also has business interests in sports management and
Tidal, Jay Z's streaming service.
The complaint reads:
"When Rita signed, Roc Nation and its senior executives were very involved
with her as an artist.
"As Roc Nation's
interests diversified, there were fewer resources available and the company
suffered a revolving door of executives.
"Rita's remaining
supporters at the label left or moved on to other activities, to the point
where she no longer had a relationship with anyone at the company."
It also calls Roc
Nation a "diminished" record label with "only a handful of
admittedly worthy heritage superstar artists".
The singer's music is
still distributed by Sony, despite the label switching distribution partners to
Universal in 2013.
The complaint says:
"Between Sony's limited economic return from its orphaned relationship
with Roc Nation and Sony's indirect relationship with Rita, Rita is caught in a
political quagmire of dysfunction."
Seven years on from
signing to Roc Nation, Ora is using Labour Code (§2855) known as the Seven Year
Rule to try to leave the label.
It was used in 1944 by
actress Olivia De Havilland, who used it to break free with Warner Bros.
However, artists such
as Courtney Love and Thirty Seconds to Mars have had the law used against them
with labels demanding damages for albums not made during the seven years of
their contracts.
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