Spice Girls video footage from 1994, said to be worth potentially millions of pounds, has been at the centre of the latest courtroom controversy involving the group.
The four tapes show the group in their earliest incarnation, well before they were groomed for stardom for the release of their first single ‘Wannabe’ in 1996.
At the High Court in London today (May 8), Neil Davies and Helen Bowers, widow of Matthew Bowers who co-produced four videos of the Spice Girls along with Davies, won a declaration that they were joint owners of the copyright to the videos.
Two former friends of Davies, Steve Newman and John Gaudino, claimed they were his partners at the time and were each entitled to a third share of his 50 per cent interest in them. The three of them were involved in a company, Rave Productions, but it was not set up until after the videos were made.
The judge, Mr Justice Pumphrey, said that Newman, currently serving a five-year prison sentence for importing drugs, and Gaudino were “very conscious of the value of the Spice Girls footage” when they removed the tapes from Rave Productions‘ offices while Davies was on holiday in 1996.
This is the second time the Girls have been mentioned in a UK court case this year. In February, the group lost a #1.5 million High Court case to Italian scooter firm Aprila Spa, who claimed that the group had been aware of the departure of ‘Ginger Spice’ Geri Halliwell before they accepted the sponsorship deal, but had gone ahead with promotional photo shoots featuring all five members, which subsequently had to be scrapped.