27 Apr Tulisa wins fight over Britney Spears track

Pop star Tulisa Contostavlos has won a claim against Will.i.am and Britney Spears after she was left out of the song-writing credits for Britney’s hit Scream and Shout.

Sony ATV brought proceedings against BMG on behalf of the former X-factor judge, alleging that she co-wrote the song, which was a UK number one for Britney on its release in 2012.

The song’s beat which was the original basis for the song was first given to Tulisa, who wrote a track entitled I Don’t Give A F**k over it for her solo album The Female Boss.

However, the beat was then given to Britney, and only Will.i.am, producer Jef Martens and co-writer Jean Baptiste were credited on the reworked version which she released as Scream and Shout.

Black Eyed Peas supremo Will.i.am admitted at the time of the fallout over the track: “Tulisa wrote to that song before I did – this is the truth. But the producers of the beat… didn’t want her to have it, so I wrote to it and Britney is the only person I ever had in mind.”

Tulisa claimed that Will.i.am and Britney’s version still included parts she was responsible for, including the line: ‘When you hear this in the club, you’d better turn this s**t up.’

According to Tulisa’s publicist Simon Jones, a musicologist’s report found that Tulisa’s vocals are mixed into will.i.am and Britney’s track.

The dispute was resolved with the award of 10 per cent of the worldwide publishing rights and income from the song to Tulisa.

Unlike many of the current rash of high-profile copyright disputes which relate to the alleged infringement of copyright in existing hits, Tulisa’s claim was brought on the basis of her direct involvement in the writing of a successful song.

The dispute over Scream and Shout reflects the complexities of song-writing in modern pop music, where hits are often the product of the work of multiple producers and writers.