Malcolm McLaren accused of plagiarism

Malcolm McLaren, former manager of the punk group the Sex Pistols, was accused of plagiarism for allegedly copying the work of a French musician for the song "About her" which appears on the soundtrack of Quentin Tarantino's "Kill Bill 2."

A court in the central town of Angers heard evidence from the musician, known as Lancelot, who said that in 2002 he sent McLaren a tape of his song "Smith Ballade" as part of a planned album project that failed to get off the ground.

"A friend told me that the (Kill Bill 2) soundtrack was really like one of my songs. So I bought the CD and what I heard was exactly my song," Lancelot said.

McLaren's song "About her" is an electronic mix including samples of songs by the 1960s group the Zombies and the blues singer Bessie Smith. Lancelot said that his original version included the same songs and the same arrangement.

McLaren was not represented in court.