Del Records, Inc. et al. v. JG Music et al.

CourtDistrict Court, C.D. California
DecidedOctober 14, 2025
Docket2:16-cv-03666
StatusUnknown

This text of Del Records, Inc. et al. v. JG Music et al. (Del Records, Inc. et al. v. JG Music et al.) is published on Counsel Stack Legal Research, covering District Court, C.D. California primary law. Counsel Stack provides free access to over 12 million legal documents including statutes, case law, regulations, and constitutions.

Bluebook
Del Records, Inc. et al. v. JG Music et al., (C.D. Cal. 2025).

Opinion

O 1

2 3 4 5 6 7

8 United States District Court 9 Central District of California

11 DEL RECORDS, INC. et al., Case № 2:16-cv-03666-ODW (KSx)

12 Plaintiffs, ORDER GRANTING IN PART AND 13 v. DENYING IN PART MOTION TO 14 JG MUSIC et al., DISMISS [132]

15 Defendants.

16 17 I. INTRODUCTION 18 Plaintiffs Del Records, Inc. (“Del Records”) and Del Entertainment, Inc. (“Del 19 Entertainment”) bring this action against Defendant Jesus Jaime Gonzalez Terrazas 20 (“Gonzalez”), in his individual capacity and as successor-in-interest to JG Music f/s/o 21 Jose Ariel Camacho Barraza, Cesar Ivan Sanchez Luna, and Omar Samuel Burgos 22 Gerardo p/k/a “Ariel Camacho Y Los Plebes Del Rancho” (“JG Music”). (Second 23 Am. Compl. (“SAC”), ECF No. 128.) Gonzalez moves to dismiss the Second 24 Amended Complaint. (Mot. Dismiss (“Motion” or “Mot.”), ECF No. 132.) For the 25 reasons discussed below, the Court GRANTS IN PART and DENIES IN PART 26 Gonzalez’s Motion.1 27

28 1 Having carefully considered the papers filed in connection with the Motion, the Court deemed the matter appropriate for decision without oral argument. Fed. R. Civ. P. 78; C.D. Cal. L.R. 7-15. 1 II. BACKGROUND 2 All factual references derive from the SAC or attached exhibits, unless 3 otherwise noted, and well-pleaded factual allegations are accepted as true for purposes 4 of this Motion. See Ashcroft v. Iqbal, 556 U.S. 662, 678 (2009) 5 A. Factual Background 6 Del Records and Del Entertainment (collectively, “Del”) are entertainment 7 companies owned by Angel Del Villar. (SAC ¶ 14.) Del Records is a Mexican- 8 American music record label, and Del Entertainment is a talent management 9 company. (Id.) 10 Between April 2013 and April 2015, Felipe De Jesus Hernandez, using the 11 fictitious name “JG Music,” loaned out the services of the musical group “Ariel 12 Camacho Y Los Plebes Del Rancho,” now known as “Los Plebes Del Rancho De 13 Ariel Camacho” (the “Band”). (Id. ¶ 15.) On or around March 24, 2014, Del and JG 14 Music entered into an exclusive recording agreement (the “Recording Agreement”) 15 and a personal management agreement (the “Management Agreement,” and 16 collectively with the Recording Agreement, the “Del-JG Agreements”) for an initial 17 two-year term. (Id. ¶¶ 16, 19.) 18 Following the execution of and pursuant to the Del-JG Agreements, the Band 19 began producing albums and performing concerts in the United States and Mexico. 20 (Id. ¶ 25.) Thereafter, in February 2015, Jose Ariel Camacho Barraza (“Camacho”), 21 the Band’s lead member, died in a car accident. (Id. ¶ 26.) Del Records signed Jose 22 Manuel Lopez Castro (“Castro”) as a replacement for Camacho and as a solo artist, 23 which Del Records and Castro memorialized in an agreement (the “Castro 24 Agreement”). (Id. ¶ 27.) 25 In April 2015, Hernandez also died. (Id. ¶ 26.) After Hernandez’s death, 26 Gonzalez negotiated a purchase of “all interests, assets, goodwill, and intellectual 27 property rights in ‘JG Music’” from Hernandez’s widow. (Id. ¶ 22.) 28 1 Sometime in 2016, Gonzalez took actions with the intent of breaching or 2 interfering with the Del-JG Agreements and the Castro Agreement. First, Gonzalez 3 caused the Band to miss scheduled concerts, events, and interviews. (Id. ¶¶ 29–30.) 4 Second, Gonzalez arranged unauthorized concerts for the Band in the United States 5 and Mexico without Del’s knowledge, authorization, or approval. (Id. ¶ 31.) Third, 6 Gonzalez caused Castro to post unauthorized master recordings and other media 7 online. (Id. ¶ 33.) Fourth, Gonzalez caused Castro to fail to deliver an album and 8 master recordings, in breach of Castro’s agreements with Del. (Id. ¶ 32.) 9 B. Procedural Background 10 On May 25, 2016, Del initiated this action against JG Music and Castro, 11 asserting causes of action for breach of contract. (Compl., ECF No. 1.) Gonzalez and 12 Castro, among others, subsequently filed a petition against Del with the California 13 Labor Commissioner. (Stip. Stay 2, ECF No. 38.) On January 22, 2018, at the 14 parties’ request, the Court stayed this action pending the resolution of the petitions 15 before the California Labor Commissioner. (Order Stay, ECF No. 39.) 16 During the parties’ proceedings before the Labor Commissioner, Gonzalez 17 produced a letter that he claims he sent to Del on behalf of JG Music. (SAC ¶ 34 n.1.) 18 Gonzalez purportedly sent this letter in February 2016, after he acquired JG Music 19 from Hernandez’s wife. (Id.) In the letter, titled “Re: Exclusive Recording 20 Agreement for JG Music, Personal Management Agreement,” Gonzalez wrote: 21 As per contract signed, our preliminary contracts will conclude/terminate 22 in the upcoming month and I JESUS JAIME GONZALEZ (JG MUSIC) wish to properly end/terminate our actual indentures prior to renewal date 23 established. It is worthy to note, JG Music regrets the inconvenience 24 caused for your organization upon this choice. 25 Hence, the decision of the company is final and JG MUSIC thanks you 26 for your services that your company offered to ours until this point and we wish you all the best for the future projects that you are going to 27 engage in. 28 1 Respectfully, 2 Jesus Jaime Gonzalez 3 Manager JG Music 4 5 (SAC Ex. G (“Gonzalez Letter”), ECF No. 128-1 (capitalization and original emphasis 6 omitted).) Del allege that this letter “was never sent and was actually part of 7 Gonzalez’s fraudulent backdating scheme.” (SAC ¶ 34 n.1.) 8 On November 9, 2023, the parties informed the Court that the California Labor 9 Commissioner’s Office dismissed the petitions before it. (Status Report, ECF 10 No. 94.) Accordingly, the Court lifted the stay, and Gonzalez and JG Music answered 11 the Complaint. (Order Lifting Stay, ECF No. 96; Answer, ECF No. 97.) 12 On June 20, 2024, Del filed their First Amended Complaint to remove claims 13 against Castro, replace DOE 1 with Gonzalez, and add causes of action against 14 Gonzalez and JG Music for inducing breach of contract and intentional interference. 15 (First Amend. Compl. (“FAC”), ECF No. 104.) Defendants moved to dismiss the 16 First Amended Complaint. (Mot. Dismiss FAC, ECF No. 107.) The Court granted in 17 part Defendants’ motion and dismissed with leave to amend. (See Order Mot. 18 Dismiss, ECF No. 123.) 19 On March 14, 2025, Del filed the operative Second Amended Complaint. (See 20 generally SAC.) Del assert eight causes of action against (1) Gonzalez, as successor- 21 in-interest to JG Music, for breach of the Del-JG Agreements (Claims One and Four), 22 (id. ¶¶ 54–59, 78–83); (2) Gonzalez, in his individual capacity, for intentional 23 interference and inducing breach of the Del-JG Agreements (Claims Two, Three, 24 Five, and Six), (id. ¶¶ 60–77, 84–101); and (3) Gonzalez, in his individual capacity, 25 for intentional interference and inducing breach of the Castro Agreement with Del 26 (Claims Seven and Eight), (id. ¶¶ 102–119). Gonzalez now moves to dismiss the 27 Second Amended Complaint under Federal Rule of Civil Procedure (“Rule”) 12(b)(6). 28 (Mot. 9) 1 III. LEGAL STANDARD 2 A court may dismiss a complaint under Rule 12(b)(6) for lack of a cognizable 3 legal theory or insufficient facts pleaded to support an otherwise cognizable legal 4 theory. Balistreri v. Pacifica Police Dep’t, 901 F.2d 696, 699 (9th Cir. 1988). To 5 survive a dismissal motion, a complaint need only satisfy the minimal notice pleading 6 requirements of Rule 8(a)(2)—a short and plain statement of the claim. Porter v. 7 Jones, 319 F.3d 483, 494 (9th Cir. 2003).

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Del Records, Inc. et al. v. JG Music et al., Counsel Stack Legal Research, https://law.counselstack.com/opinion/del-records-inc-et-al-v-jg-music-et-al-cacd-2025.