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Songwriter accuses Muse of theft over Exogenesis trilogy

By | Published on Monday 10 September 2012

Muse

Warner Music has been sued over the three-track conclusion of Muse’s 2009 album ‘The Resistance’. Songwriter Charles Bollfrass says in new legal papers that the Warner-signed band ripped off his idea to create ‘Exogenesis’, a trilogy of tracks based around an apocalyptic sci-fi tale in which mankind hopes a team of astronauts can find humanity a new home.

Bollfrass alleges that he developed an idea for a “cinematic science-fiction rock opera” called ‘Exogenesis’ which follows the same plot line in 2005, and that he approached three bands about them writing the score, one of which was Muse. The next year, Bollfrass claims, he was told Muse were not interested in the project, and then three years after that ‘Exogenesis’ appeared on the band’s fifth album credited to frontman Matt Bellamy.

The plot line Bollfrass says he proposed to Muse is pretty much identical to the summary of the three tracks Bellamy provided in liner notes for the iTunes LP version of his album, in which he revealed: “[‘Exogenesis: Symphony’] is a story of humanity coming to an end and everyone pinning their hopes on a group of astronauts who go out to explore space and spread humanity to another planet. Part One is a jaded acceptance that civilisation will end. Part Two is a desperate hope that sending the astronauts to find and populate other planets will be successful alongside the recognition that this is the last hope. Finally, Part Three is when the astronauts realise that it is just one big cycle, and recognise that unless humanity can change it will happen all over again”.

It’s not clear what evidence Bollfrass has of his alleged correspondence with Muse in 2005/6, but he is suing for $3.5 million. Warner is yet to respond, as are Muse themselves, who are not named as defendants in the lawsuit.



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