"Westlife declared bankrupt"

From the BBC:

Westlife have been declared musically bankrupt in the UK.

The Irish band sold millions of records but fans suffered enormous financial losses as the CDs contained not a single note worth listening to. In a statement, the 32-year-old lead singer Shane Life said he had "worked long and hard" to try and come up with something original for over a decade and was devastated that fans have finally come to this conclusion.

The pop group filed for moral and intellectual bankruptcy in the UK which has a less onerous bankruptcy regime than the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan. In the UK the period of artistic bankruptcy typically lasts for the rest of an artist's life but in the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan it is punishable by death or more commonly 12 years in prison.

Mr Life also owns a second hand record shop with his brother Finbarr. It was established in 2004 and had been involved in accumulating 44 million discarded Westlife CDs, which have since remained in a warehouse in Counties Leitrim and Sligo in the west of Ireland. Last month, the company was placed in receivership.

The band also suffered a legal set-back when their appeal against refusal of their application for copyright in "stepping down off barstools shortly before the truck driver's gear change" was rejected.