Cintas Acuario

The Jenni Rivera Estate has filed a lawsuit against Cintas Acuario, a West Coast-based indie label owned by the late singer’s father Don Pedro Rivera. Ayana Musical, another music company also owned by him, is named in a complaint filed on Wednesday (Sept. 20) in California by Jacquelin Campos — who last year took over as head of the Jenni Rivera estate.

According to the 39-page lawsuit, before and after the singer’s untimely death in 2012, the música mexicana star’s father, along with the companies aforementioned, “exploited” sound recordings and musical compositions written, recorded, produced and performed by Jenni during her lifetime. Furthermore, the defendants “exploited Jenni’s name, image and likeness to the tune of tens of millions of dollars,” the complaint alleges.

The civil case also claims that the plaintiffs have “repeatedly” asked the companies to “act in accordance to the terms of agreements entered into by Jenni during the early part of her career” and to stop claiming to own and control rights to Jenni’s music. The companies have refused to do so, according to the suit, which is why the Jenni Rivera Estate has decided to file the lawsuit, “holding each of them liable for their unlawful acts” and seeking the return of money collected and withheld from the plaintiffs.

While owned by Don Pedro Rivera, the lawsuit says the day-to-day operations of the company are carried out by Jenni’s siblings, Rosie Rivera — who previously served as head of the Jenni Rivera estate — and Juan Rivera. “This matter provides a perfect illustration of the significant and lasting impact that money, power, and greed can have on a family,” the lawsuit reads.

Cintas Acuario did not return Billboard‘s request for comment at press time.

Jenni entered her first recording agreement with Cintas Acuario in 1993 when she began her career. According to the lawsuit, the three-year deal provided Cintas with “several” rights to the sound recordings and albums recorded, produced and distributed under the 1993 Recording Agreement. It also granted the rights to manufacture and distribute merchandise in connection to the promotion and sale of her music. In return, Cintas was “obligated” to provide Jenni with statements and make royalty payments to her on a quarterly basis. According to the complaint, “the obligation to account and pay royalties owed to Jenni in connection with the 1993 deal was never waived or otherwise terminated. Thus, the foregoing obligations subsisted in favor of plaintiffs as Jenni’s successors-in-interest, following her death in December of 2012.”

The most successful woman in regional Mexican on the Billboard charts, Rivera died in an small aircraft accident in 2012 at the age of 43. She has a total of 19 entries on Top Latin Albums, 12 of which reached the top 10 and seven of which topped the chart. She has earned a total of 12 entries on the Billboard 200 and has 14 top 10 hits on the Regional Mexican Airplay tally. Most recently, Jenni’s children released the posthumous album Misión Cumplida.

In a press release issued in light of the lawsuit, the Jenni Rivera Estate said that it is “grateful for the support and understanding of the fans during this challenging period” but will refrain from making any further statements.

Read the lawsuit below: