Britney hit with lawsuit over Crossroads

Britney Spears has been slapped with a $30m (€22.5m) lawsuit over her 2002 movie debut Crossroads, by a man who claims his idea for the film was stolen.

The Toxic singer is being sued along with Paramount Pictures and MTV by Christopher Merrill, who alleges the movie is substantially similar to a script he submitted, called Dream Alive long before Crossroads' release.

He tells American TV show Celebrity Justice: "We were working on this case for almost three years. We've been trying to negotiate with MTV and other production companies but they haven't responded."

Merrill's attorney adds: "There's no question that they took his material."