Cilla sues

Press, 20 December 1985, Page 6

Cilla sues

NZPA-PA London Cilla Black is asking a High Court judge to decide who owns the sound of her voice singing her hit, “Step Inside, Love.”

The Liverpool singer is suing British Rail for using two lines from the tune in an advertising campaign without permission. The court case, in which Black also seeks damages from E.M.I. records for con- , trading the tape to 8.R., is due for. its first hearing today. The action is against a commercial that shows a woman being helped on to a train while Black is heard singing the hit song written for her by Paul McCartney. Her agent, John Ashby, said, “There has to be a limit on what people can do with one’s work. Black had been plunged into an advertising campaign without being asked whether she wanted to be in it. “In terms of exclusivity, it has embarrassed us with other advertisers. Cilla is so instantly associated with that song that she has a book out at the moment called ‘Step Inside, Love’.” “They may have cleared the copyright on the song but not the performer’s rights. Basically, it is a moral issue and we will let the court decide who is right.”

Black, aged 42, a mother of three, now hosts the ITV show, “Blind Date.” British Rail said that the commercial had been commissioned from the advertising agent, J. Walter Thompson. Black is also suing Thompson and Jeff Wayne Music.