Muse Sued For Millions Over Sci-Fi Rock Opera

British rockers Muse are facing a $3.5 million lawsuit from a man who has claimed his idea for a sci-fi rock opera was ripped off by the band on their album The Resistance.

According to Courthouse News, Charles Bollfrass filed the lawsuit in a Manhattan court last week, where he accused Muse of stealing his “cinematic science-fiction rock opera” idea. He claimed he approached the trio, along with two other unnamed bands in 2005, about composing the score for the project titled 'Exogenesis', which they rejected.

Bollfrass has alleged that the band then used the concept for the sequential tracks Exogenesis I, Exogenesis II and Exogenesis III, which feature on their 2009 album. He has also claimed the cover of The Resistance has an image that was on one of his rock opera storyboards.

Warner Music, whom the album was released through, is also being sued as part of the lawsuit for copyright infringement, unfair trade practices and unfair competition.

The claims conflict with an interview lead singer-songwriter Matthew Bellamy gave on the band's forum in late 2008, as reported by Music Radar, where he stated he had been working on the 15-minute three part symphony for a long time.

“There is a new song in three parts, more of a symphony than a song which I've been working on sporadically for many years,“ he said, referring to the tracks.