Pacquiao settles lawsuit over US recording deal

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Philippine boxing icon Manny Pacquiao prepares to speak to supporters upon his arrival at Manila’s international airport, on December 12, 2012. Pacquiao and a music company have settled a US lawsuit over allegations he broke a promise to record songs for the the firm, court papers show. –AFP

Philippine boxing hero Manny Pacquiao and a music company have settled a US lawsuit over allegations he broke a promise to record songs for the the firm, court papers show.

RBM Group International claimed that Pacquiao agreed in September 2009 to record a dozen tracks, and that they paid him $40,000 for the first two songs.

Given “his already existing international popularity, RBM seized the opportunity to be the first recording company to sign Pacquiao to a contract,” said the lawsuit, filed in Los Angeles Superior Court in November 2010.

But Pacquiao struck deals with other people despite his contract with RBM and recorded various songs, including a cover of Dan Hill’s “Sometimes When We Touch,” said the lawsuit.

Pacquiao “went on to ignore the agreement and perform both publicly and privately, on television, at concerts and after the conclusion of successful boxing matches,” it said.

The boxer’s lawyers denied any wrongdoing. Last week attorneys for RBM filed a request for the case to be dismissed. Settlement terms were not disclosed, although RBM had sought $200,000 in damages and $10 million for lost profits.

Pacquiao, once considered the world’s best pound-for-pound fighter, is battling back from two straight defeats. He’s slated to fight American Brandon Rios in Macau in November. –AFP