A federal judge in Los Angeles has dismissed a lawsuit brought by several musicians and estates last year, following a New York Times Magazine article about a fire that destroyed huge numbers of original recordings.

The Times Magazine reported that the fire, on a Hollywood backlot in 2008, destroyed over 100,000 audio recordings containing as many as 500,000 songs controlled by the Universal Music Group, the world’s biggest recorded music company.

Among the artists that had lost “single and album masters” in the fire, according to the article, were Tom Petty, Tupac Shakur and Steve Earle, as well as the bands Soundgarden and Hole. Representatives of those artists or their estates sued Universal in June, arguing that the company had been negligent in protecting their tapes and that the company had a duty to share with artists any income it received from an insurance settlement over the fire.

Since the case was filed, all plaintiffs had dropped out except Jane Petty, a former wife of Mr. Petty, who said she had an interest in his recordings through a divorce agreement. On Monday, Judge John A. Kronstadt of the United States District Court in Los Angeles dismissed Ms. Petty’s claims.