Began writing for next record

On January 6, 2003, the band began writing for their next record. The next month, on February 7, the band began to renegotiate their record contract. The band, which had been signed to Epic / Immortal for seven years, cited the fact that state law limits the amount of time that an artist can be bound to a company. The band had been signed to the label for 7 years, and used California’s de Havilland Law as a negotiating tool with Epic/Immortal. After releasing three successful albums, the band had been compensated poorly compared to the revenue that they had generated for Sony . The band entered a lawsuit against their label in order to break from their contract, to which Sony responded with a lawsuit of their own. On March 1, Einziger, along with Scott Litt , Dave Holdredge, and Rick Will, was nominated for a Grammy in the “Best Engineered Album (Non Classical)” category, for their work on Morning View . On April 3, after weeks of circulating rumors about Dirk Lance’s departure from the band, an official announcement was made by the band. A decision had been reached amongst members of Incubus in a face-to-face meeting at the end of the Morning View tour to discuss his involvement in the band. The band said that the split had become necessary due to “irreconcilable creative differences”. Almost immediately after the announcement of a new bass player, the 2003 Incubus vs. Sony case had been settled. The two sides settled on a new contract that delivers three albums to Epic/Immortal with an option on a fourth. The first album would be worth $8 million in advances to the band, with another $2.5 million for each one thereafter.