Spice Girls 'fine' raised on appeal
The Spice Girls will have to pay around €1.6m after losing a legal battle with a motor scooter company they had sued for €356,442.
Three judges at the British Court of Appeal said the group had been guilty of misrepresentation over Geri Halliwell's departure when they signed a contract with Aprilia World Service.
They said the misrepresentation over the €800,000 sponsorship deal had a wider impact on the Italian-owned company than had been found by British High Court judge Mrs Justice Arden in August last year.
The Vice Chancellor, Andrew Morritt, Lord Justice Chadwick and Lord Justice Rix dismissed the Spice Girls' appeal and awarded Aprilia all its costs of the hearings - plus increased damages - an estimated total of around €1.6m
The five members of the group had taken their case to the Court of Appeal, arguing that they should have won their original claim for unpaid sponsorship fees and guaranteed royalties on a special edition Spice Sonic scooter they promoted.
They claim they signed the deal with Aprilia in March 1998 and Geri told of her intention to leave the following month.
At first she said she would not be leaving until the end of an American tour in September that year and this would have had no effect on the contract. But she changed her mind and quit without warning in May.
The appeal judges found that the Spice Girls did know that Geri was leaving before they signed the contract with Aprilia in May 1998.
Ian Mill QC, representing the Spice Girls, had told the appeal court that there were no group discussions about Miss Halliwell's possible departure before the Aprilia agreement had come into force.
When Aprilia refused to pay any more of the sponsorship contract, the Spice Girls launched their legal action. They had claimed €1.27m in unpaid fees, €200,000 in guaranteed royalties on sales of the Sonic Spice scooter and €9,000 for scooters promised to them.
