The 10 best legal wrangles in pop – in pictures - The Guardian
Claim and counterclaims in the high court of rock'n'roll, involving Jennifer Nelson and the song Happy Birthday, Neil Young, Courtney Love Cobain and Morrissey among others
Joyce v Morrissey and others, 1989
After the Smiths broke up in 1987, Morrissey and Johnny Marr claimed that they had orally agreed a 40/40/10/10 split of non-songwriting royalties with drummer Mike Joyce and bassist Andy Rourke. The rhythm section remembered it differently, and while Rourke accepted a payoff Joyce fought on. In 1997, he won a huge sum in unpaid royalties from Judge John Weeks, who described Morrissey as “devious, truculent and unreliable”. Morrissey dubbed Weeks the “face of human evil”, refused to cough up and vowed to appeal to the House of Lords. As he once sang: “I bear more grudges/ Than lonely high court judges”
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