The Dubliners have brought a legal action to stop the record company EMI from promoting or selling a CD box collection entitled The Dubliners Platinum Collection.
The dispute is about copyright over seven songs featured in the collection - The Mountain Dew, Dirty Old Town, A Song for Ireland, The Irish Rover, The Town I Loved So Well, The Marino Waltz and Dublin In The Rare Ould Times.
The action was briefly mentioned by Denis McDonald SC, for The Dubliners, before Ms Justice Mary Laffoy yesterday and was adjourned to next Thursday.
The proceedings have been brought against EMI Records (Ireland) Ltd by Baycourt Ltd and John Sheahan, Barney McKenna, Sean Cannon, Eamonn Campbell, Paddy Reilly and Ronnie Drew (trading as The Dubliners), and James Kelly, acting as executor for the estate of Luke Kelly.
It is claimed that the song recordings referred to are part of The Definitive Dubliners album and were included in the new box collection without the consent of The Dubliners.
This, it is claimed, infringes the copyright over those recordings.
The court will be asked to grant an order restraining EMI or its agents from promoting, distributing, selling or disseminating copies of the box set.
An injunction restraining EMI or its agents from manufacturing or selling more copies of The Definitive Dubliners than were manufactured between November 2005 and May 2006 is also being sought.
The legendary group is also applying for an injunction restraining EMI or its agents from using the title The Dubliners Platinum Collection in place of The Definitive Dubliners or from marketing the song recordings included in The Definitive Dubliners under or by reference to a sleeve entitled The Dubliners Platinum Collection.
In the same legal action, EMI is also being asked to account for all of the platinum collection box sets sold by retailers to date.