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Judge Spears Britney Song Flap
Britney Spears is no song thief.
Such is the verdict of a federal judge in Indianapolis, who has dismissed a copyright-infringement lawsuit brought by an Indiana songwriter against the pop princess over the song "Sometimes."
U.S. District Judge John D. Thinker tossed the complaint Oct. 31 after determining that the claims brought by Steve Wallace in a May 5 court filing did not merit further action.
Spears' attorney, David R. Baum, says the dismissal was complete vindication for his client and that there was no settlement of any kind.
Wallace had claimed that Spears and Sony/BMG Music Publishing Inc. ripped off music he wrote back in 1990 and used it as the basis for the "Sometimes," which appeared on her 1999 album, . . .Baby One More Time, and on 2004's Greatest Hits: My Prerogative.
In court papers, the 34-year-old musician claimed that weeks after composing his version of "Sometimes," he executed a "poor man's copyright"--that is, he sealed the song in an envelope and mailed it to himself in order to obtain a postmark.
Wallace--whose songwriting specialty includes country, pop and gospel tunes--said he shopped around his track to various music publishers in 1994 and entered it in a Pennsylvania lyrics concert in 1997. While he couldn't explain how the track supposedly fell into Spears' hands, Wallace submitted as evidence an email that he claimed was written by Spears that said: "I now know for a fact that you wrote 'Sometimes.' But there's nothing I can do about it. That's all I can say about it."
On Wednesday, Baum said Wallace's case fell apart once it got to court. "We actually forced the other side to voluntarily dismiss the case," Baum said. "We had presented very compelling--actually indisputable--evidence that the song was independently created by [Spears' collaborator] Jorgen Elofsson. It was not created by Mr. Wallace."
As for Spears' alleged confessional missive, Baum said: "The purported emails...were fake. So as a result of that, we were able to force them out of court."
Tinder's ruling made it clear that Elofsson was the soul person responsible for writing the tune.
Wallace's lawyer, John D. Ritchison, could not be reached for comment.
The "Toxic" singer was not in court for the victory. She has been in Los Angeles tending to her two-month-old son with husband (and aspiring rapper) Kevin Federline, Sean Preston Federline, and working on another baby--i.e., a remix album.
B in the Mix: The Remixes, featuring new versions of her greatest hits and a new single, "And Then We Kiss," is slated to drop Nov. 22, according to MTV.com. Spears, who isn't doing any publicity for the album, will head back to the studio early next year to record a full-length new album.
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