Tobias Forge of Ghost lawsuit verdict is being appealed

Tobias Forge’s legal drama isn’t over yet as former Ghost bandmates appeal court verdict.

Tobias Forge Saga Continues

In Dance Macabre, we see how Papa Nihil and Sister Imperator meet and romance themselves into what we see today. The same day, we finally got news of the resolution in the lawsuit against Tobias Forge, Ghost’s leader, by his former band mates. However, the verdict of the court is now being appealed.

To backtrack a little on the lawsuit, according to Loudwire, last year former band mates sued Tobias Forge for $22,000 (SEK 200,000) in unpaid compensation. The prosecution included past guitarists Simon Soderberg and Henrik Palm, past drummer Martin Hjertstedt and past keyboardist Mauro Rubino.

Throughout their time in Ghost, band members had a salary wage. These former band mates felt that the salary was not compensation enough for their work and felt they deserved more of the profits from Ghost.

When the former members decided to sue Forge, it forced the band’s leader to reveal his identity for the first time since the Ghost’s inception in 2010. The reveal hasn’t hurt the band’s popularity in the least (quite the opposite it would seem), and the former band mates claimed that a partnership was established during their time in the band. Forge disputes that claim saying no partnership was established and, according to Blabbermouth, were paid a fixed salary as “session musicians.”

Tobias Forge- Ghost – Courtesy of Ghost

All charges against Tobias Forge were dropped by the judge and the former band members are to pay $146,000 (SEK 1.3 million) in Forge’s legal fees. Forge requested $225,000 (SEK 2 million) but the judge settled for a more “reasonable” amount. According to Linkoping News:

"“The district court also writes that it is unclear what is actually meant to ‘constitute’ a music group. They also think it is obvious that Tobias Forge, Simon Söderberg and three other people were involved in the band in different ways. They agreed that they would play together, repeat and perform at concerts. But that is not enough to show that it would be a business relationship. The judgment states: ‘On the contrary, a number of circumstances speak for the lack of such intention.’”"

A Countersuit Begins

According to Metal Injection, the former members of Ghost, Simon Söderberg, Mauro Rubino, Henrik Palm and Martin Hjertstedt, that were suing Tobias Forge in accusation of collecting royalties and profits from tour merchandise sales without proper distribution to band members are appealing the judge’s dismissal of the case. There is no further information from either the former band members or their lawyer at this time.

What do you guys think of the countersuit information? Let us know in the comments!