Those former Busted boys Ki Fitzgerald and Owen Doyle – who were kicked out of the boy band before they rose to fame, and who unsuccessfully sued for a cut of the royalties from the band's early songs last week – have said they will appeal that ruling.
As much previously reported, the duo claimed that the band's management badly advised and then threatened them into leaving the band and signing away any rights they had to the group's songs and name. After Busted hit the bigtime Fitzgerald and Doyle sued both their former management and former bandmates James Bourne and Matt Willis. The former settled out of court so when the case got to court earlier this year it was Fitzgerald and Doyle v Bourne and Willis.
The plaintiffs' case failed because they couldn't prove the early band had worked as a partnership, which was a requirement for their other claims. The judge also questioned Fitzgerald and Doyle's reliability as witnesses.
In a statement issued this week reps for them said they were "disappointed" with the High Court ruling, but that they would continue to "fight for justice" and take the case to appeal. The statement also added that while the duo lost the case, as a result of the court hearing they will be recredited as co-owners of some of the early Busted hits, including 'What I Go To School For', something which, they pointed out, had not been widely reported following the judge's ruling on the case last week.