Busted in court battle over £10m unpaid royalties
Two of the original members of Busted have gone to court, claiming £10 million worth of unpaid royalties.
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Tuesday, 26, Feb 2008 06:04
Two of the original members of former boy band Busted have gone to court, claiming £10 million worth of unpaid royalties.
Ki McPhail and Owen Doyle allege that they wrote a number of songs for the band with James Bourne and Matt Willis in 2001.
The four were in a band called The Termites between January and October 2001, a high court heard today.
In March of that year, the band changed its name to Busted after signing a record deal with a professional management company.
Mr McPhail and Mr Doyle claim they were then forced out of the group and replaced by Charlie Simpson.
The pair allege they co-wrote some of Busted's subsequent hit singles including, Year 3000, What I Go To School For, Sleeping with the Light On and Psycho Girl.
They believe they were forced into signing an agreement releasing their claim on the material once they were removed from the band.
Tim Penny, who is representing the two former members, said: "The pressure placed on the claimants consisted of repeated advice and threats."
He spectacularly claimed that threats were made on Mr McPhail's parents' home if they failed to sign the agreement.
He said the pair were told "unless they released their claims in relation to the group members' songs and in particular four songs, they would be sued, Ki McPhail's parents would lose their home and the claimants would never work in the industry again".
Busted achieved eight top 10 hits between 2002 and 2004, before splitting in 2005.