A songwriter from Indiana is suing Britney Spears for copyright infringement over allegations he wrote the song 'Sometimes', which appeared on Spears' 1999 debut album 'Baby One More Time' and last year's greatest hits album.
Steve Wallace says he wrote the song in 1990, shopping it around a number of publishers in 1994 and entering it into a lyric contest in 1997. The Spears version appeared two years later, and was formally copyrighted by Spears' representatives without any mention of Wallace. He didn't formally copyright his song until 2003, but his lawyers say he executed a so called ìpoor man's copyrightî in 1990 - i.e. he mailed himself a copy. Wallace also claims to have an email from Spears herself admitting that it is his song but saying ìthere's nothing I can do about it, that's all I can say about it."
Wallace is suing Spears, her record label and her publishing company, all of whom, his lawyers say, have refused to negotiate a settlement with the songwriter. Lawyer John Ritchison told Associated Press: "The New York guys decided the Indiana local boy didn't have much moxie. It's real difficult to get them to belly up to the bar."
Neither Spears' people nor label SonyBMG have as yet commented on the lawsuit, though Ritchison confirmed they have previously denied copyright violation.