Michael Jackson will be hoping for a better legal result than the Beach Boys as he battles to prevent personal memorabilia being sold at auction.
A federal judge in Los Angeles has dismissed a $US60 million lawsuit filed by the Beach Boys against two men who were attempting to sell band memorabilia at auction. The legendary Californian outfit had alleged that the men - memorabilia collector Roy Sciacca and warehouse owner Allen Gaba - stole the items, including recordings, photographs and lyric sheets, from a Hollywood warehouse in 1994.But US District Judge Manuel Read ruled that there was no evidence supporting the band's claim. Sciacca and Read are now free to sell the items, which they claim were legitimately bought from the band in the 1980s.
Meanwhile, Jackson will attempt to prevent the sale of around 1,100 family items at a proposed auction in Las Vegas on May 30-31. A spokeswoman for Jackson told Associated Press, "Mr. Jackson was not aware and he is extremely upset that his memorabilia was included".
The memorabilia includes a gold record for the 'Thriller' album, handwritten lyrics to the Jackson Five tune 'ABC' and a white hat, believed to be from the video for 'Bad'. The collection is being sold by a Florida-based transportation company.
