Claims filed by Grace Borg rejected at court

The First Hall of the Civil Court rejected an application filed by Grace Borg and Andrea Milana, on an alleged breach of contract by Thea Garret, winner of the Malta Song Festival in 2010.

The owners of Exotique Record Label, Borg and Milana, had also filed against national television station PBS, claiming that the station had breached the same contract. Garrett had represented Malta in the 2010 Eurovision Song Contest with the song 'My Dream'. Borg and Milana demanded royalties on the song.

Mr Justice Anthony Ellul decreed that the young girl was still at the start of her musical career and that the claims with which the record label owners had enticed the young girl had led to nothing but tribulations and anxiety for the singer and her family.

The allegations filed by Borg and Milana led to the loss of sponsorships from GO plc and Debenhams. "Such behaviour does not bid well for Grace Borg, who previously claimed it was she who discovered the singer, and yet still proceeded to file a lawsuit against her," the judge said.

Ellul said Borg had been "trigger-happy" about suing the singer at time when she was supposed to be rejoicing for her success. "Grace Borg could not expect to be included in the events following Garrett's success in the local festival as Borg herself had objected to the singer's participation with the winning song. The record label owner had insisted that Garrett sings a different song written by German composers."

The court concluded that neither Grace Borg nor Andrea Milana had proved they owned any intellectual property rights over Thea Garrett or her song 'My Dream', and that the singer had not signed any exclusive artists management agreement with Exotique Record Label.