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Monday, 3 March 2008, 18:19 GMT

Former Busted pair start court battle

Owen Doyle and Ki McPhail Two members of former boy band Busted have appeared in court over a £10m unpaid royalties claim.

Ki McPhail and Owen Doyle say they helped write a host of the trio's former hit singles like Year 3000, Sleeping With the Light On and What I Go To School For but never got a penny for it.

The pair were in a band called The Termites with James Bourne and Matt Willis between January and October 2001, the High Court in London heard.

Later that year, the four signed a deal with a professional management company, changing their name to Busted the following month.

Kicked out

In October, however, Mr McPhail and Mr Doyle say they were kicked out of the group and coerced into signing an agreement that released their claim to the group's material.

The pair said they were not told record label Universal liked the songs and had offered Busted a lucrative record deal when they signed the agreement.

Singer Charlie Simpson subsequently joined the group, remaining with them until they split up in 2005.

Day in court

In court, Ki McPhail tried to explain the songwriting process but needed to get his guitar out to demonstrate what he meant.

Busted He sang various Busted songs and compared them to other acts like Wheatus - singing the group's Teenage Dirtbag to jurors and a version of the Spice Girls' Mama.

He also described the early days of the band saying they used to film themselves winning Brit awards.

But when he was being cross examined he talked about a row with I'm A Celebrity... Get Me Out Of Here! winner Matt Willis.

Ki said he had known him for years before they were in the band.

But the former Busted singer denied that prompting Ki to go to the police.

He tried to get officers to charge Matt Willis with lying on oath.




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Busted members in royalties fight (Tuesday, 26 February 2008, 17:21 GMT |  Entertainment )
Matt crowned 'King of the Jungle' (Friday, 1 December 2006, 23:28 GMT |  Entertainment )
Boy band Busted decide to split (Friday, 14 January 2005, 13:24 GMT |  Music )


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