BSB VS. LOU PEARLMAN??


The Backstreet Boys are growing up. Their pop album has graced the top ten list for the past 10 months. Now the hit ocal group wants more control for themselves and less for manager Louis Pearlman. In Chancery Court, the Orlando, Fla. quintet contends it could be making more money if not for Pearlman. They say Pearlman illegally has taken sole control of the group's business affairs and prevented members from serving on the board of Backstreet Boys Inc. The group is compromised of Nick Carter, Howie Dorough, Brian Littrell, A.J. McLean and Kevin Richardson. They are popular with teenagers around the world. The group's siut claims Pearlman is using the corporation for his own gain. The shareholders' agreement gives him the right to vote they Boy's stock, but it also requires their nominees to be included as directors, said their lawyer, John F. Thomas Jr. "They are the talent and they want the right to have more control over their own destiny," he said. Not so fast, retorts Pearlman, who points out that he created the vocal group, selected its members, trained them and pumped $3 million into the operation in 1993 when two of the five members were still minors without much business experience. Pearlman's Orlando lawyer, J. Cheney Mason, said the Backstreet Boys and their parents signed "an irrevocable proxy" giving Pearlman the right to make all business decisions. Pearlman claims he is sole director. "When it came time for payday, the Backstreet Boys and their parents got greedy and thought they'd try to ignore Mr. Pearlman and his substantial investment into the group's creation," said Mason. "That's not going to happen." Since purporting to elect themselves directors, the members have made a deal with Winterland Productions and sponsorship agreements with Pepsi Cola ans Coca Cola-all without Pearlman's consent, Pearlman said. This week, the Boys counsel, Thomas of Tighe Cottrell &Logan, will argue to keep the case in Chancery Court while lawyer Gregory V. Varallo of Richards Layton & Finger will contend the matter should be resolved by arbitration in Florida. Oral arguments take place at 4:30 p.m. Tuesday before Vice Chancellor Stephen P. Lamb. The dispute over control of the band also is the subject of litigation in the federal courts of Florida and New York, but the Backstreet Boys' Orlando lawyer, Judy Segelin, called the legal spats "a family matter." "The Boys and management are a family and still consider themselves to be a family and there are just some issues they need to resolve within the family," she said. "Everyone is confident we will be able to reslove the issues."

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