Q 'Where there's a hit, there's a writ.' What exactly does that mean

A. This is a clever reference to the fact that as soon as a pop star has made enough money, someone somewhere is going to try and relieve him or her, or them, of some of it, and a popular method is to use legal action.

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Q. What sort of thing can you sue a musician for

A. Take your pick! Some of the more popular instances concern that old chestnut, the 'rip off'. As soon as someone gets a song anywhere near the charts, someone somewhere will step forward and claim that the song was written by them, and 'stolen' by the now exceedingly rich artist(s) in question.

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Just about any musician can be prey to this kind of accusation, but in a couple of famous instances, the plaintive has won, and some serious money has changed hands. George Harrison was taken to the cleaners for plagiarising the Phil Spector composition He's So Fine a top twenty hit for The Chiffons in 1963. Mr Spector reckoned that George's My Sweet Lord, a number one hit ten years later bore an unseemly resemblance to his composition. Cue lengthy court case in which wrestled with the knotty problem of what actually constitutes a 'song' in legal terms, and whether someone can be sued for what they protest is entirely innocent and unintentional copying of someone else's work. The short answer is yes, they can, as George found out, with wallet-lightening consequences.

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More recently, Robbie Williams has encountered the same situation, having been advised that his Jesus In A Camper Van borrows more than is acceptable from a Woodie Guthrie song. Just because Mr Guthrie isn't here to protest didn't stop his descendants from steaming in.

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Q. So people mainly get legal over stealing song ideas

A. Not at all, that's just the tip of the iceberg. More popular is the notion of trying to get some money from the great and the good in the music world for stealing not just the ideas or melodies, but songs themselves. A couple of years ago, piano player Johnny Johnson, credited with the discovery of Chuck Berry decided to relieve Chuck of a considerable portion of royalties for hits Chuck had written, except Johnny reckoned he'd written them, and once again the lawyers set to work to divide the spoils.

Q. Any other reasons why pop stars need to get the phone number of a good lawyer

A. Plenty. Mis-management is always a nice little earner for legal eagles who want to ensure that their seriously wealthy clients hold on to their serious wealth. Again, a considerable list can be drawn, but for example, the Backstreet Boys decided that $300,000 was a rather miserly cut of the rumoured $10 million they'd generated, so a court case was sorted out fairly promptly. Elton John and former manager John Reid also crossed�swords, a by-product of success is a frequent difference of legal opinion about how that success should be shared.

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Q. It does appear that musicians are innocent in most cases

A. In most cases yes. Ozzy Osbourne and metal band Judas Priest have seen the inside of American court-rooms on charges that their respective compositions influenced suicidal teenagers to take their own lives.�In each case, the bands were found not guilty, but it points to a sinister trend when families can seek legal redress for tragedies in which musical taste can only have ever played a relatively minor role.�

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Q. At least it doesn't concern the bands' personnel then

A. Ah, wouldn't that be nice, but life just isn't like that. Pink Floyd didn't just write a song called Money with ironic lyrics about greed and avarice, their lives imitated their art when founder member Roger Waters tried to sue the remaining Floyds to prevent them using the name. He failed, they went on to even greater success. Prog rockers Yes faced similar difficulties over the legality of their name when certain members of the band wished to use it to tour and record, much to the legally expressed dismay of the rest. Cue temporary shelving of monosyllabic moniker, and use of the more ponderous Anderson/Wakeman/Bruford/Howe handle for the band who would have liked to say 'Yes' but couldn't!�

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Even The Beatles ended up in a morass of legal red tape which is still to be completely unravelled nearly thirty-five years after the band split. George Harrison even wrote a rueful song about it all, the Sue You Sue Me Blues, and this time no one accused him of stealing it.

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Q. What about stars who are managed by family members�- surely there's no legal battles there

A. You'd think so, but no. Teen queen Tiffany sued her manager mother for what was rather quaintly referred to as her emancipation and Charlotte Church's mum legally squeezed her offspring's former guiding light out of the picture.

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Q. Why on earth is all this legal wheeling and dealing done

A. Money. Getting it, keeping it, getting more, being jealous, it simply brings out the worst in people. Any where you can find someone with a seven-figure bank balance, you can find someone who wants to stake a claim to some, or all of it. Music and money go together like, well pop and star. That says it all.

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If you have a question about anything to do with music, share it with music-lovers here at The Answerbank.

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