Oct 22, 2004 • 1 min read

German court not convinced Queen are British

Queen lost a German court case over a live We Will Rock You licence because their lawyers could not prove the surviving members were British.

Favourite story of the week is that Queen have lost a court case in Germany because the judge wasn't convinced the band's surviving members were British! Brian May, Roger Taylor and John Deacon were suing a German record label after it granted a third party the licence to use a live version of 'We Will Rock You' - something the band claim the label didn't have to right to do.

The band were suing the record company through the German legal system on the basis that any EU citizen must be treated equally in the courts of any EU member state. However, on the day, May, Taylor and Deacon's legal people were unable to provide suitable evidence that their clients were British.

A spokesman for the court said the people representing Queen seemed to expect the courts to accept that the band's nationality was common knowledge, but argued: "Queen are known in Germany for the musical achievements and not their nationality."

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