"McCarroll Settles For £500K"

Oasis resolved ex-drummer Tony McCarroll's claim against them out of court last week in a settlement thought to be worth around £550,000 - significantly less than the £18 million in loss of earnings and royalties it was mooted he was claiming.

McCarroll sold all rights he had to the Oasis name and will no longer hold any claim over the band in the future.

McCarroll was due to start battle with Oasis at London's High Court on March 2, claiming in his damages writ that he was a party to a record deal with Sony Music Entertainment (UK) Ltd and that his sacking should be viewed in the eyes of the law as a breach of the partnership agreement. He said that, as a result of his sacking from the band, he had suffered loss and damage and was therefore entitled to 20 per cent of the band's yearly profits even after he had gone.

However, it appears McCarroll had a complete change of heart the day the trial was due to start and he offered to drop his case if Oasis would buy all the rights to any future royalties. Oasis accepted, and agreed to pay McCarroll a lump sum of £550,000. From that figure, it is estimated that £200,000 will go on legal fees and another 40 per cent will go in tax. McCarroll will now earn nothing more from Oasis.

After the case, he told waiting reporters he was "absolutely delighted and very happy" with the deal and added: "I'm glad the whole thing is over. Now I can get on with my life and my career." It is understood that McCarroll is currently helping out at a rehearsal studio in Manchester.

Razi Mireskandari, a partner at Oasis' solicitors Simons, Muirhead & Burton, was flabbergasted at the turn of events.

He told NME: "Tony started this action to get a cut of the band's profits for tracks that he had nothing to do with. He had no chance of winning. The deal that he has done is a buyout of the royalties he would have got in the future for the tracks he did play on. The price they have paid for those rights is the going rate so Tony has started this action for no reason whatsoever, except substantially increasing his costs. It's a very sad day for him."

A source close to Oasis told NME the band thought they had got a bargain for McCarroll's future rights and that they would eventually total much more than £550,000, especially if any tracks McCarroll played on were, for example, ever used for a large-scale advertising campaign.

McCarroll's solicitor Jens Hills declined to comment on the case as did Creation, Oasis' record label.

Meanwhile, the former publishers of Here! magazine, Gruner & Jahr, have apologised to Liam Gallagher for the "distress and embarrassment" caused by an article that appeared in September 1996 claiming he had sought and undergone a course of psychotherapy, which was untrue. Liam was paid a contribution towards his costs.

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c 1998 Andrew Turner

aturner@interalpha.co.uk

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