THE CORRS, one of Ireland’s most successful music acts, have been left breathless by an accusation that they stole their biggest hit from an obscure American songwriter.

Jenesee Ricco, a Los Angeles-based musician, is suing Atlantic Records over a claim that the Dundalk group’s 2000 hit, Breathless, was copied from his own track of the same name. He wants damages of $50,000 (€37,500) and to be credited as the writer.

Breathless launched the Irish band in America, and gave the Corrs their first UK No 1. It also helped the In Blue album go platinum.

Ricco has filed a case in the Los Angeles Superior Court claiming he wrote his version of Breathless in 1999. He has highlighted his claim on American television, telling the Celebrity Justice show: “I was in shock. I was like, ‘This is my song, it’s on the radio and who are these guys singing it?’ ” The television programme pointed out that the Corrs have been vocal about music piracy and defending musicians’ rights.

Ricco claims documents he has lodged in court will prove that he copyrighted his Breathless before Andrea Corr registered the copyright for her band’s single.

This weekend Ricco, who plays his pop music in clubs around Los Angeles, said: “I’ve been chasing the record company now for a few years to get paid for it. There’s no way to get all the people together at one time to talk, so the only course I could think of was to file the lawsuit. I’m only asking for a small amount of money, $50,000, and that’s just to be recognised as the writer.”

The songwriter, who is looking for his own record deal, released his first four-track CD himself, including his version of Breathless. He is hoping the Corrs’ record company will settle the case out of court.

“It’s the same song except they changed some of the words around. The breathless and stuff like that is the same and the first verse is the same.”

Ricco agreed that the melody was “not exact” but was “authentically reproduced”. “It’s not sampled note for note but it is definitely a reproduction of what we gave them. It’s the same song.”

Ricco says the track was given to Atlantic Records by “a person I had taking songs around at the time”. He added: “The hope was that someone making an album would record the song. I didn’t know where it was going or who was getting it, I never even heard of this band and then it came out on the radio and nobody had ever contacted me.”

Based on the lyrics alone, Ricco’s case doesn’t seem strong. Apart from the phrase “leave me breathless”, there is no overlap in the words.

“It’s not even close. The only similarity is the title,” said Nick Ferrara, the Corrs’ New York lawyer. “The Corrs and Mutt Lange wrote Breathless. The Corrs don’t know this guy, Mutt Lange doesn’t know him, they never met him.”

Ricco originally sued four years ago in a Boston court, seeking the profits from the song, which amounted to several million dollars. That case was lodged in his real name, Paul Iappini, which he subsequently changed to Jenesee Ricco.

Ferrara said: “He filed a lawsuit in Massachusetts, the case was thrown out, and he appealed it. The appellant court upheld that decision. He could not prove that the Corrs ever had his material.”

If the case goes to trial, Ricco will have to prove that the Corrs had access to his song. Omar Lugones, who produced the report on Celebrity Justice, said: “He would have to prove that the recording he has is the one he registered before the Corrs, and he would have to prove that their record company had access to his recording and that they acted maliciously.”

Celebrity Justice played extracts of both songs on the show. Lugones said: “He played us a recording and it is somewhat similar, I suppose. The Corrs’ version is far superior. If this goes to trial the jury would have to hear them and decide if they are similar enough.

“Of course I have no way of knowing if the CD he brought in to us was recorded yesterday or if that is the one he registered years ago.”

On the band’s website, Andrea Corr describes writing the song with Lange, a leading music producer who has worked with several leading acts including his wife Shania Twain. “It’s a bizarre situation going to meet someone for the first time and trying to write a song with them but it worked great,” she says.

John Hughes, the Corrs’ manager, said it was “par for the course” for people to claim they had written hit songs.

“The problem is we never heard of Ricco, never met him, never had a song from him; he never sent us anything,” he said. “Saying Mutt Lange robbed your song is like saying Paul McCartney robbed it. He is one of the most successful music producers ever.”

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