Bon Jovi Sued For $400 Billion In Plagiarism Case

In court documents filed on Thursday (09Oct08), Massachusetts-based musician Samuel Bartley Steele alleges the group of copied lyrics from his 2004 song (Man I Really) Love This Team - used as the anthem for his hometown's baseball team, The Red Sox.

Steele alleges the group's frontman Jon Bon Jovi heard the song while campaigning for U.S. Democratic presidential nominee John Kerry in 2004, and used its lyrics to create his hit song I Love This Town - which was later used as a promotional track for Major League Baseball.

Steele calls the rocker's composition an "unauthorised derivative version" of his song in the federal suit, reports Antimusic.com.

In court documents reportedly obtained by the website, Steele adds, "As intent will be easy to prove, we are seeking the statutorily authorised amount of $100,000 (GBP54,054) per CD sold. Just under 4 million CDs have been sold to date. This totals almost $400 billion."