Rockers Scott Weiland and Eric Kretz of Stone Temple Pilots have been sued by their own record label, Atlantic.

According to Billboard, the suit, filed in the NYC, claims that lead singer Weiland and drummer Kretz have threatened to stop performing under their contract and have indicated they would like to end the agreement unless Atlantic makes significant changes.

The record company said in the suit that while Stone Temple Pilots has already delivered six albums, it wants the group to record a seventh album and deliver up to two more if Atlantic decides it wants them.

The record company also said its contract with STP was written under New York laws and that the musicians are trying to use California laws to terminate it.

The band issued the following statement in response to the suit filed:

Stone Temple Pilots were deeply disappointed to see that Atlantic filed a surprise lawsuit against two members of the legendary band STP when they were in the middle of what were believed to be cordial and positive discussions about STP returning to the studio to make a new album after 5 years. Despite the allegations in the complaint, the band never threatened anything more than remaining away from the studio until equitable terms could be arranged. The precipitous filing of this action is yet another example of the difficulties facing artists in the new music environment, as relationships between artists and their labels fall further and further apart.

Eric and Scott have not yet been served and hope that Atlantic will allow cooler heads to prevail, and have the courtesy of shelving this action to permit negotiations to continue in a positive spirit rather than under a dark cloud of hostility. Should everyone operate in good faith, STP are certain that a new album from the band will be available soon. Should Atlantic instead pursue this scorched earth policy towards the band, the ultimate victims will be STP's fans, who will never be able to enjoy a new album from the group.

Record companies are scrambling to keep their heads above water in the music biz's new world order.

Looks like they'll even eat their own children!

Yikes.

[Image via WENN.]