French composer detained in Moscow in plagiarism row

A French composer and his Russian lawyer were detained and spent a night in a Moscow police station after a Russian pop star accused them of extorting 1 million euros from him in a plagiarism row.
Didier Marouani and Igor Trunov were detained yesterday in a bank where they said they were to sign an out-of-court settlement with Filipp Kirkorov, Russia's biggest pop star. Marouani claims one of Kirkorov's songs contains music he wrote.
Kirkorov said there was no agreement to settle the dispute out of court and that he went to police when Marouani started to extort money from him.

Another of Marouani's lawyers, Lyudmila Ayvar, said in comments carried by Russian news agencies that the singer and his lawyer were released early Wednesday.