You're reading: BBC: Kirkorov plagiarism row – French disco musician held in Russia

BBC: Kirkorov plagiarism row – French disco musician held in Russia

By BBC.

Published Nov. 30, 2016 at 4:04 pm

France's musician and composer Didier Marouani, founder of the band Space, arrives for a press conference in Moscow on Nov. 30, 2016.The Frenchman was detained by Moscow police late on Nov. 29 over an alleged one million euro extortion attempt. Marouani and his lawyer had gone to a bank in Moscow where they had apparently been planning to settle a case against Philip Kirkorov, a Russian pop singer they had accused of plagiarism.

Photo by AFP

French composer Didier Marouani has been detained in Moscow after a Russian pop star accused him of extortion.

Marouani and his lawyer were held at a bank where they said they hoped to meet the singer, Philipp Kirkorov, to settle a copyright issue out of court. Instead they were met by police, after Kirkorov filed a complaint alleging Marouani, a founder of the band Space, tried to extort 1 million euro ($1.1 million) from him.