Poison's Thorny Suit

Thu., Jun. 19, 2008 10:51 AM PDT by

Poison AP Photo

Look what the cat dragged into court.

Poison has filed a lawsuit against Capitol Records, accusing the label of cheating the glam-metal band out of royalties dating back to the mid-'80s.

Filed yesterday in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of Sweet Cyanide Music—the company representing members Bret Michaels, Rikki Rockett, Bobby Dall and C.C. Deville—the suit alleges that Capitol willfully shortchanged the quartet by "incorrectly calculating certain producer royalties" owed to them. (View the complaint.)

The band also claims the music giant "failed to account and pay royalties" for various releases over the years, resulting in a breach of contract. That includes underpaying for a 2005 greatest-hits collection that included the new track "We're an American Band," written specifically for that album.

The "Nothin' But a Good Time" rockers are demanding a full and independent audit of Capitol's books and are seeking "unspecified and incidental damages."

"Poison is trying to amicably resolve this with Capitol," band attorney Mark Passin tells E! News. "The only reason they filed the lawsuit at this time was to prevent the statute of limitations from continuing to run.

"We really are trying to work this out with Capitol.”

Reps for Capitol were unavailable for comment.

In support of its new DVD/CD compilation in stores this month, Poison: Live, Raw & Uncut, the band is set to break out the mascara and hairspray for a 40-city nationwide summer tour launching July 3 in Salt Lake City.

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