Abba stars caught up in copyright battle over musical

Abba stars Benny Andersson and Bjorn Ulvaeus must await a court's decision to find out if they can stage their new musical as a full theatrical spectacular in America.

A ninth of the people in the songwriters' native Sweden have seen the show 'Kristina Fran Duvemala' and now the duo are looking to stage the musical in America, but their plans have been halted by a script row.

Andersson and Ulvaeus claim the show belongs to them and scriptwriters Lars Rudolfsson and Jan Mark, but not Carl-Johan Seth, who wrote the musical's original libretto, dispute this.

If Andersson and Ulvaeus lose when a decision is made in Sweden on March 23, the show will only be allowed to be performed in concert productions.

If they win, they hope to try the show out as a full stage musical in Minneapolis later this year.