is it legal withhold a master?

[hotcacca]

my band decided to self record an album since two of us are sound engineers. we sound proof one of "A"'s room and started the project. A, and B engineered the recording. All the equipment used belonged to C and B with the exception of the computer who belongs to A.
The album is almost complete (only edit and mix to do) but A decided to quit the band. I then asked him to give us the master (with the exception of his parts, since he does not want to be in the band it is obvious we are not going to use his parts) but A refused saying the if we want the master we need to pay him, because the recording was done at his place, otherwise he will erase all of the files.
is this legal? can he do that? none of the songs have been written by him, he just performed. all the equipment was our except for the computer and the room.
what should we do? he wants an answer by Tuesday. can you help me?

[justalayman]

well, if the files are on his computer, that pretty much makes it tough to claim you own any of the files.

I would suggest paying him and if you believe you should not have to pay, sue him after you get the songs.

Other than that, it's going to be real hard to prove his hard drive didn't crash before any suit you will need to file gets to court.

[Dandy Don]

Is there any signed contract or recording agreement with this person who no longer wants to be in the band? Have you all released previous albums?

What type of arrangement did you have to pay this person before you started recording?