The members of Mastodon have filed a motion seeking partial dismissal of a lawsuit brought by the estate of their late former guitarist, Brent Hinds. In a 20-page memorandum submitted Monday and obtained by Rolling Stone, the band’s attorneys argue that significant portions of the complaint fail to state a valid legal claim.
The filing, submitted on behalf of the band’s individual members, challenges the estate’s assertions regarding the use of Hinds’ likeness on the cover of the group’s recent album, Marrow Deep, and disputes the valuation and process surrounding the buyout of Hinds’ business interests. “Even assuming the truth of the Estate’s allegations, large swaths of the Complaint’s legal theories fail to state a claim and should be dismissed,” the band’s lawyers wrote.
Central to the defense is the argument that the individual members should not bear personal liability, as Mastodon operates as a limited liability company. The filing further contends that a prior buyout offer extended by one of the band’s subsidiary companies did not create a binding obligation. Additionally, the attorneys assert that the estate cannot unilaterally dictate the purchase price for Hinds’ stake, noting the complaint “does not even allege that Hinds offered a purchase price when he requested to be bought out.”
Regarding the allegation of breach of fiduciary duty concerning the album artwork, the band maintains that the estate has not established a fiduciary relationship governing the use of Hinds’ image. On the claim of conversion—essentially theft of Hinds’ 25 percent ownership interest—the filing states there is no allegation that the band “seized, transferred, or withheld any stock certificates or other documents embodying Hinds’s interests.”
The motion also addresses the estate’s demand to control future uses of Hinds’ likeness, arguing such a request seeks to direct the band’s future conduct rather than resolve the estate’s own rights.
The estate filed its original complaint in September, alleging that Hinds had not formally finalized his departure from the band—announced as a mutual parting of ways in March 2025—before his death in August 2025. The complaint states the band tendered an $80,000 check representing Hinds’ share, which the estate declined to cash. At the time, a band representative described the dispute as a “private business dispute” made public and vowed to “vigorously defend what we believe is a meritless lawsuit.” A representative for Mastodon declined to comment on the new filing, and an attorney for Billy Hinds, the guitarist’s father and estate representative, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.