Tulisa Screams and Shouts about her success in court

Former X Factor judge and member of N-Dubz, Tulisa Constostavlos, has won her claim against Britney Spears and Will.I.Am over their song 'Scream and Shout'. After five years of arguing that she co-wrote the song, she has officially been credited as a writer.

Wil.I.Am had admitted at the time that Tulisa wrote the song but that his producer's did not like her version and nor did they want her to be involved with the track in the first place. Her efforts were not recognised: the writing credits did not mention Tulisa and gave acknowledgement only to Will.I.Am, Jef Martens and Jean Baptise.

The track gave Britney Spears her first number 1 in over ten years, as it topped the charts on its release in 2012. Tulisa did not waste any time in bringing her claim, issuing proceedings in the same year.

During the court case, a musicology report found that Tulisa's vocals still featured on the final-release of the track alongside those of Britney Spears. Reportedly, a source has said that Tulisa was annoyed when the song was given to Spears. Clearly, Tulisa wanted to be recognised as a writer of one of the most popular and well-known pop songs of the decade.

As a result of her success, Tulisa is now a credited writer of the song and has been awarded 10 per cent of the worldwide publishing rights and income of the record. When the claim was first issued a sum of money equivalent to 10% of the income generated to that date was paid in to an escrow account: that money will now be released to Tulisa.

This case highlights the importance of creative efforts being properly recognised, and the economic benefits of having those efforts properly protected. There is now the possibility that other artists in creative industries will be inspired by Tulisa's success, and take action to have work properly credited.

If you have any questions on the above, please do not hesitate to contact the team at McDaniel & Co. on 0191 281 4000 or legal@mcdanielslaw.com.