One of the most complex aspects of probate and divorce cases for the parties involved and their solicitors is the division of shared assets, particularly those that are difficult to physically divide, such as a house or other forms of property.

A unique aspect of the English legal system is that a legal precedent can be established in cases that would otherwise appear to be unrelated, and one example of this can be seen in the unusual legal battle for the rights to one of England’s most successful rock bands.

The Final Cut

One of the most successful rock bands of all time, Pink Floyd had been struggling with internal disputes and financial difficulties since at least the late 1970s. By the mid-1980s, the band were in the process of imploding entirely.

In 1985, bassist, vocalist and songwriter Roger Waters declared the band a “spent force creatively” following the controversial 1983 release of The Final Cut, which he was credited with writing the entirety of.

After this announcement, Mr Waters was threatened with legal action for breach of contract, since their record label CBS Records, as well as the two other members of the band at the time, David Gilmour and Nick Mason, all wanted to continue producing Pink Floyd music.

A Momentary Lapse of Reason

Following this, Roger Waters left the band and his contractual obligations with CBS Records, which left Mr Gilmour and Mr Mason free, they believed, to continue to perform as Pink Floyd without him.

This led to a remarkable legal challenge in 1986, where Mr Waters petitioned the High Court to block Mr Gilmour and Mr Mason from using the Pink Floyd name and to dissolve the commercial partnership that formed the Pink Floyd legal entity.

This case was evocative of McCartney v Lennon, Harrison and Starkey, the ultimately successful High Court petition to dissolve The Beatles and the beginning of the official end of the band.

However, despite some similarities, the two cases were very different, in no small part due to Mr Waters’ actions.

Because he had formally resigned from Pink Floyd in 1985, he was no longer part of the commercial partnership and had surrendered, in the eyes of the law, the right to Pink Floyd.

The Division Bell

The High Court battle lasted two years, in part to determine if Mr Waters had signed away his rights to control of the name and whether he had the right to use it himself in promoting his solo music, although ultimately he would choose not to do so.

During this time, Mr Gilmour and Mr Mason continued to produce the album A Momentary Lapse of Reason despite threats of a High Court injunction to stop them from recording or performing the music.

It was a complex legal situation because whilst he was not a part of Pink Floyd the band, he was a shareholder in Pink Floyd Music, a clearing house company that owned the intellectual property.

Ultimately, a settlement on Mr Gilmour’s houseboat stopped the legal question of ownership from being truly answered. In exchange for money, the rights to the album The Wall and the rights to the inflatable pig from the album Animals, Mr Waters dropped the legal dispute.

He would later claim in a 2013 interview that he learned a lot about “English jurisprudence” through the process, but the legal system also learned a lot about the nature of ownership of shared property, intellectual or physical.