A US federal judge has dismissed that previously reported $60m lawsuit brought by The Beach Boys' label Brother Records against two men they accused of stealing property belonging to the band from a warehouse, and then trying to sell the items at auction. Manuel Real ruled that there was no evidence to suggest that Roy Sciacca and warehouse owner Allen Gaba had stolen the memorabilia, which included sound recordings, photographs and original lyric sheets.
Sciacca's lawyer William White argued that his client bought the items in the 1980s from a warehouse sale held by the band, and decided to sell them on after an original handwritten Beatles lyric penned by John Lennon raised $1.25m back in 2005. White says: "He saw that the John Lennon lyric had sold for a substantial sum of money and thought he could sell his material. He contacted [London auction house] Cooper Owen, but when Brother Records found out it started this campaign to stop the sale."
The original sale was of course halted, but now Sciacca is free to sell the items.