Often, the company was a target of public criticism on various issues.
Croatia Records has been the object of a controversy raised by singer [[Branimir Štulić]] over [[Royalties|royalty]] rights. Štulić claims royalties of songs by former rock band [[Azra]], whose lead singer and songwriter he was in the 1980s, and which was then managed by Croatia Record's predecessor Jugoton. Štulić has named a sum of 12 million [[Euro]]s he believes the company owes him but has not opted to take legal action to claim it.<ref>[[Slobodna Dalmacija]], March 29, 2008: {{cite web |url=http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Spektar/tabid/94/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2182/Default.aspx |title=ArchivedJohnny copyŠtulić: Hrvatska mi duguje 12 milijuna eura |accessdate=2008-03-30 |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080402003800/http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Spektar/tabid/94/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2182/Default.aspx |archivedate=2008-04-02 |language=hr}}</ref> Želimir Babogredac replied that Croatia Records has all the legal rights to release titles by Štulić and Azra, as the company is a direct successor of Jugoton, whom these artists were signed for. He also said that the sum Štulić claims is exaggerated. However, he added that Croatia Records is proud to have the highly acclaimed Štulić in the list of its artists and that he may receive a payment from the sale of [[Red Book (audio CD standard)|audio CD]]s only if he joins the [[Croatian Composers' Society]] - [https://web.archive.org/web/20081223230405/http://www.zamp.hr/home/home_en.htm ZAMP].<ref>[[Slobodna Dalmacija]], April 5, 2008:[http://www.slobodnadalmacija.hr/Spektakli/tabid/79/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/2992/Default.aspx] {{in lang|hr}}</ref>