German court to decide Oasis dispute

Noel Gallagher refused to appear with the band at two festivals

LONDON, England -- A German court is to decide how much pop group Oasis are worth without Noel Gallagher.

A British court has ruled that it is up to a German court to decide, following the lead guitarist's non-appearance at two German pop festivals last June because of a dispute with his brother Liam, a fellow bandmember.

The festival organisers, Marek Lieberberg Konzertagentur GMBH, say that Oasis without Noel Gallagher is not really the group contracted for and have refused to pay the full price.

The band's company, Definitely Maybe (Touring) Ltd, has started proceedings to recover the full amount.

On Thursday, Mr Justice Morison in the High Court in London decided jurisdiction to decide the case lies in Germany.

Morison said it had been established that the contract had a closer connection with Germany than England.

"Aside from any other consideration, the centre of gravity of the dispute is Germany, which will provide the more convenient forum for deciding to what extent Oasis without Noel Gallagher was worth anything, and, if so, how much."

Oasis, one of Britain's biggest musical exports in the 1990s, stormed to fame with a crunching guitar sound on their debut album "Definitely Maybe" in 1994.

But the Manchester band became as famous for off-stage battles between Noel and Liam as for their hit songs "Live Forever," "Wonderwall" and "Don't Look Back in Anger."

Oasis' fortunes have declined in recent years with poorly reviewed records and line-up changes.

Reuters contributed to this report.

No action on Oasis grope complaint
February 7, 2001
A new Oasis conducting a clean and sober tour
May 10, 2000

Oasis

Note: Pages will open in a new browser window

External sites are not endorsed by CNN Interactive.