Music Week is reporting that the founders of London based music recommendation service Last.fm could be facing legal action from a former colleague following that announcement last week that US media conglom CBS is acquiring them for $280 million.
Music Week says that it understands that Thomas Willomitzer, one of the original architects of Last.fm, is planning on taking legal action against the company's existing owners, Felix Miller, Martin Stiksel and Richard Jones, who all stand to profit from the CBS takeover. He reportedly claims that he was one of the creators of the original Last.fm system, but was "unfairly ousted" after the recruitment of Richard Jones. With the system now fetching $280 million he is expected to claim he is due financial compensation for his role in creating it.
The trade magazine says that the basis of the claim remains "unclear", but adds that Willomitzer's role in creating the music service is well documented, and that he was named as a creator of the service when it won a prize at the Europrix Top Talent Awards in 2002.