Former ABBA members win musical score dispute

Stockholm - Former ABBA members Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus Friday won a dispute about a score used in one of their musicals. The Stockholm district court ruled that a score penned by Carl- Johan Seth was not used in the version put up on stage when the musical Kristina from Duvemala premiered 12 years ago. The musical was about Swedes who emigrated to the United States in the 1800s, and was based on a series of books by writer Vilhelm Moberg. The court further ruled that the former ABBA duo did not have to pay royalty to Seth. Seth maintained that the music and texts were based on his notes and that he has right to credits and future royalty payments. With a planned launch on Broadway a good run there could generate sizeable earnings. Previous efforts to solve the matter out of court failed. Andersson and Ulvaeus earlier said that if the court had ruled against them, the musical would not have been set up again. Seth was contracted in 1991 but Andersson and Ulvaeus said his score was not good enough and in early 1995 decided it had to reworked. That was done by director Lars Rudfolfsson and dramaturgist Jan Mark. The musical premiered later in 1995. The ruling said the stage version was written by Mark and Rudolfsson. Seth has received some 5 million kronor (700,000 dollars) from productions in Sweden. In 2005, Ulvaeus told a hearing that the payments to Seth were made to get peace and quiet around the musical. The musical has been translated into English and has the title Kristina. After ABBA stopped recording and touring, Andersson and Ulvaeus continued to collaborate. They composed the popular musical Chess and have recently scored success with the musical Mamma Mia. © 2007 dpa - Deutsche Presse-Agentur