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Former Beatles, relatives sue EMI

The surviving members of The Beatles and relatives of the late band members, John Lennon and George Harrison, have issued legal proceedings against record company EMI for the recovery of more than £30 million (US$51 million) in unpaid royalties, they announced on Friday.

Paul McCartney, Ringo Starr and relatives of Lennon and Harrison have taken their battle to the High Court in London, and simultaneously to the Supreme Court in New York after the parties failed to reach a deal.

They allege that Britain's EMI Group owes more than £30 million in record royalties to their company, Apple Corps Ltd.

The deficit was allegedly uncovered during an audit of Apple Corp's accounts.

Apple Corps chief Neil Aspinall said: "We have tried to reach a settlement through good faith negotiations and regret that our efforts have been in vain."

"Despite very clear provisions in our contract, EMI persist in ignoring their obligations and duty to account fairly and with transparency. Apple and The Beatles are, once again, left with no choice but to sue EMI," Apple Corps said in a statement.

Shares in EMI, which owns the copyright to The Beatles recordings in perpetuity, had fallen 2 percent to £2.37 by 4:24pm GMT.

"Artists do sometimes request an audit of their record label's accounts, that's not unusual, but sometimes there are differences of opinion, especially when the contracts are large and complex, when you can get issues of contractual interpretation," an EMI spokeswoman said.

"Ninety-nine out of 100 audit problems are resolved by amicable settlements for a small fraction of the claim," she said.
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