Britney Spears' Piece of Me lawsuit dismissed

Britney Spears has dodged a legal battle after a man voluntarily dismissed his lawsuit against the pop star over her song Piece of Me.

Kirk Rothrum, who runs sound effects library Banging-beats.com, served Spears and bosses at Sony Music Entertainment with legal papers in May (15), claiming they used his work on her 2007 single without permission.

In the suit, he alleged staff at the record label lifted the sound of female moaning seductively for use on Piece of Me and he was never paid.

Rothrum initially sought a pay cheque for his contribution to the track, but he reportedly decided to pull the lawsuit due to the legal fees he was accruing as he chased a deal.

A source tells TMZ.com Rothrum was frustrated he was spending a lot of money on the lawsuit, which was ultimately going nowhere. He reportedly has been given the opportunity to refile the lawsuit.

The singer will be relieved her legal battle has been dismissed as it means she can focus all her attentions on her next album. Britney thrilled fans the world over earlier this month (Nov15) when she confirmed she was working on new music.

"Working hard and hardly working...new album...wheeeee! (sic)" she wrote on social media alongside a photo of herself and two friends pulling secretive poses on Instagram and Twitter.

Fans were quick to comment on her company, naming the male as musician and songwriter Justin Tranter and the female as music star Julia Michaels. This only added to their excitement, with one devoted listener commenting: "stop teasing us & drop a new single Queen! We're dying for new music from you" followed by several cry-face emojis.

This announcement follows a tweet she wrote at the end of October (15). She revealed she'd just recorded vocals for a song she "loves", teasing with the hashtag "#B9" referring to the album number it would be from.