Legendry US band the Beach Boys have won a legal battle over a collection of memorabilia including handwritten scores of some of their best selling hits, letters, notes and the band’s first royalty cheque for $990. However, the terms of the binding arbitration means that the collection has had to be sold and the takings divided between a motley crew of other investors, lawyers and corporate entities all asserting rights to the items.

Auctioned off

According to the New York Times, the collection, which was estimated to be worth between $6 million to $8 million dollars, will be  auctioned off at a London auction house and the proceeds divided between the interested parties. However, the Beach Boys will recieve little of the proceeds due to the number of others involved in the chain of events leading up to the arbitration.

The complicated tale began with a former musician who claimed he bought 28 boxes of memorabilia from the Beach Boys at a warehouse sale in 1988, later disputed by the Beach Boys who  unsuccessfully  sued at the time for the return of the collection.