May 15, 2006, 18:18 GMT
London - Aston Barrett, former bass player in Bob Marley's band The Wailers, failed in his court battle in London Monday aimed at gaining a major slice of royalties of the late reggae legend.
Barrett, 60, claimed he was owed royalties totalling 60 million pounds (112 million dollars) from a contract signed with a record company in 1974, and from songs co-written with Marley, who died in 1981.
But a High Court judge in London rejected the claim made against the record company and the Marley family and imposed an order barring Barrett from taking any further action without the permission of the court.
Barrett, who reputedly is the father of 52 children, now faces legal costs for the trial approaching two million pounds.
He claimed that Marley promised the members of the band equal shares of the royalties from hit albums including Babylon By Bus, Exodus and Rastaman Vibration.
In a press release after the ruling, the Marley family said: 'For the last four years Aston Barrett has persisted in this hurtful and extremely expensive claim which was actually settled in 1994.'
'We always felt that this would be the outcome and it was hard to listen to Aston Barrett reduce his friend Bob to someone who was more interested in playing football than making music. It is good to see our position vindicated,' the statement added.
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