Into the pop courts, and the Beach Boys are suing two Californian men over claims that they stole recordings and memorabilia from a warehouse rented by the band. The suit, which seeks more than $20 million, also claims that Roy Sciacca and Allan Gaba violated the group's copyright, trademark and "right of publicity" by trying to auction the goods in October last year.
The items, which included instruments, sheet music, photos and contracts, were stored in Mr Gaba's North Hollywood warehouse. The band decided to clear out the warehouse in 1994, and claim that they discovered Gaba had removed 13 to 25 boxes of their memorabilia.
Mr Sciacca, a friend of Gaba's, contacted UK auction house Cooper Owen to put items up for sale last year, claiming he purchased the memorabilia twenty years ago. It was when the auction house announced the sale that Brother Records, the corporate entity that represents the surviving Beach Boys, first announced its intention to launch legal proceedings.
Legal papers were filed in LA last week. Sciacca and Gaba are yet to comment.