According to a report from BusinessInsurance.com, a Los Angeles state court has refused to dismiss pandemic-related event cancellation litigation filed by Metallica despite a virus exclusion in its coverage.

The California Superior Court held in Frantic Inc. versus Certain Underwriters at Lloyd’s et. al. that it could not dismiss a lawsuit over a canceled South American tour at this preliminary stage of the litigation because a "proximate cause" has not been established as to what caused the loss involved.

Metallica began an eight-show tour starting with two performances in San Francisco in September 2019. Those were to be followed by six shows in South America, the first of which was scheduled for April 15, 2020, in Santiago, Chile. The South American shows were postponed because of the pandemic shutdown.

The band sued Lloyd’s underwriters after they refused to provide coverage for the postponements, charging breach of contract and tortious breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing.

While Lloyd’s contended the pandemic caused the cancellations and therefore it should prevail because of the policy’s virus exclusion, Metallica argued that Lloyd’s “cannot conclusively say that the Pandemic is the efficient proximate cause of the cancellations because there are other adequately alleged causes that are covered under the Policy,” the ruling said.

Metallica attorney Jeffrey Schulman, a partner with Pasich LLP in New York, said the fact that concerts and professional sports are being played with fans in the seats, while "the virus is still pretty much here," undercuts the argument it caused the cancellations.

Read the complete report here.

Metallica have released an official live video for "Moth Into Flame", filmed at the Louder Than Life festival in Louisville, KY on September 24. Watch below:

Watch "Ride The Lightning" from the same show: