Procol Harum member wins classic track court case

The former keyboard player from rock band Procol Harum on Wednesday won a share of future earnings from the seminal 1967 hit "A Whiter Shade of Pale", which sold around 10 million copies worldwide reports Reuters.

In a written ruling at London's High Court, Judge William Blackburne said Matthew Fisher should get 40 percent of the musical copyright of the song.

But the award fell short of the 50 percent Fisher claimed in his lawsuit and the musician also lost his bid to win back past royalties earned from the haunting ballad.

"I find that the organ solo is a distinctive and significant contribution to the overall composition and, quite obviously, the product of skill and labour on the part of the person who created it," the judge said.

Fisher said he wrote the organ music to the song and so was entitled to joint authorship of the track alongside lead singer Gary Brooker, who is credited with its copyright. Brooker has dismissed the claims.

Fisher sued Brooker and Onward Music Ltd, and although he won the judgement he is likely to have to pay a significant share of the legal costs in the case, which are expected to run to several hundred thousands pounds (dollars).

During the trial last month, the High Court reverberated to "A Whiter Shade of Pale", whose accompaniment is based on Johann Sebastian Bach's works including "Air on a G String", and was treated to a live performance on an electronic organ by Fisher.document.write(unescape('\04564%6F%63um\145%6Et.%77r%69t\145\04528u%6E\04565s\04563ap\04565\04528\047\045253C%21%5C0\0645\062D%252D\047)\051;