Black Sabbath's Ozzy Osbourne in bitter dispute with Tony Iommi

May 31 2009 by Neil Elkes, Sunday Mercury

TOGETHER they conquered the world, taking their Brummie brand of heavy metal rock and roll around the globe.

But now Black Sabbath legends Ozzy Osbourne and Tony Iommi are locked in a bitter legal dispute over royalty payments.

The rock icons have fallen out over guitarist Iommi’s claim to have the sole rights to the Black Sabbath trademark.

And last night 60 year-old Ozzy issued a statement, calling on his former friend and bandmate to “do the right thing”.

Osbourne, who grew up in Aston, is suing the guitarist over the use of the band’s name on merchandise.

In a personal plea, the former Sabbath frontman said: “Tony, I am so sorry it’s had to get to this point.

“We’ve all worked too hard and long in our careers to allow you to sell merchandise that features all our faces, old Black Sabbath album covers and band logos, and then you tell us that you own the copyright.”

Ozzy claims that he is half-owner of the trademark and is losing royalties running into tens of thousands of pounds which are normally shared equally between the two. The lawsuit demands unspecified damages and lost profits.