'N Sync and Jive Records have been hit with a $150 million lawsuit by 'N Sync founder Louis J. Pearlman, Trans Continental Media, Trans Continental Records, and BMG Entertainment, owner of the band's former label, RCA Records

The suit, filed Tuesday (Oct. 12) in Orlando, Fla., asks the court to grant a preliminary injunction preventing Jive, Zomba Records, and the members of 'N Sync from using the name "'N Sync," claiming it infringes on Trans Con's exclusive rights to the trademark. It also would prevent the band from releasing any recordings, and asks for the return of the masters produced for the group's projected third album, No Strings Attatched, which was tentatively due out in early 2000.

A spokesperson from Jive had no comment on the suit. Pearlman recently released a statement regarding his relationship with the band (LAUNCH, 10/6): "With regard to 'N Sync, we remain committed to the fundamental principles of our agreements that state that 'N Sync has exclusive recording and other obligations to Trans Continental, and that 'N Sync is first and foremost a Trans Continental Records act that is distributed in the U.S. by RCA, a label of BMG. We are a family. A family not only of companies, but also of people, many people worldwide who helped discover and nurture the talents of these young men within Trans Continental and its affiliated partners."

Now, with Pearlman and his camp seeking $100 million in compensatory damages and $50 million in punitive damages, it appears the family atmosphere has been lost.

"This is a scorched-earth policy," J. Cheney Mason, Trans Con's co-lead trial counsel, tells the Orlando Sentinel. "We're going to shut them down. We believe there will be no tours, no performances, no rehearsal or recordings" until the dispute is resolved. "It is not Trans Continental's intent to cut the throats of those boys," he explains to the newspaper, "But we're going to decapitate the advisers who have been giving them bad advice."