David Beckham inspires army of artists to wage war on dodgy dealers flogging fake merch after winning $1bn lawsuit

DAVID BECKHAM has inspired a host of copycat legal claims by huge artists now waging war on dodgy dealers flogging fake merchandise.

The ex-footballer was more Goldenhauls than Goldenballs after winning a $1billion lawsuit against the counterfeiters cashing in on his name earlier this year.

Acts including Madonna, Harry Styles and Fleetwood Mac are following in his footsteps.

Former One Direction singer Harry has his team taking on hundreds of dodgy online vendors and is demanding up to £1million damages from each.

In paperwork filed in the States, his lawsuit says the illegal trading of goods is destroying “the widespread fame, outstanding reputation, and significant goodwill associated with the Harry Styles brand [which] have made the Harry Styles trademarks invaluable assets”.

The action was brought by the firm Merch Traffic LLC, which is Harry’s official merchandise agents in the US, and also looks after numerous other big names.

In the past 18 months, Merch Traffic has filed at least 76 lawsuits on behalf of music royalty.

Metallica, Nirvana, Nine Inch Nails, Hozier, Tate McRae and The Ramones are among acts fighting to stop these bandits from putting their rip-off gear on the market.

An industry source told me: “Seeing David’s successful claim has got everyone fired up, and so many acts are now getting involved.

“These artists do not want poor-quality rip- offs of their merch being sold because fans think it has come from them, when in fact it has come from some backstreet dealer cashing in on their name.

“The more success they have, the more likely they are to start properly stamping out these cowboys for good.”

Tracking down these dealers is going to be a mammoth task, with most of the gear shipped from China.

But David has clearly started off a movement and I suspect loads more artists will be getting in on the act soon.

The more pressure they can bring, the better.

Ed’s pay multiplies to £41m

ED SHEERAN made some serious cash last year – and he’s given himself a bumper pay day to reward all his hard work.

New paperwork for the Sapphire singer revealed he had a £41million pay day from his pop firm Ed Sheeran Limited.

That is three times the £14.5million he paid himself the year before.

With my maths, that means Ed, whose albums include Multiply, was paying himself around £112,000 per day.

The cash was made from “writing, recording and production of music”, says the documents.

Given that this financial window pre-dates the release of his latest No1 album Play – and excludes the money Ed has earned from his live shows – there is a hell of a lot more cash to come.

Oh to be a multi-award winning musician . . . 

Si’s December 10 out of 10

WATCH out One Direction . . . Simon Cowell’s newest boyband have been unveiled.

The very exciting DECEMBER 10 are celebrating signing a massive deal with EMI/Universal.

The British band – from left, John, Cruz, Nicolas, Sean, Josh, Danny and Hendrik – are all under 20.

They invited me to watch them perform live at a top-secret playback in London yesterday and the group are certainly a young force to be reckoned with.

The lads were discovered on Simon’s new Netflix show, The Next Act, and their immediate plans are being kept tightly under wraps for now.

But as soon as I can share more with you, including the brilliant tunes I heard during their acoustic set, I’ll let you know.

I really think 2026 is going to be very exciting for them and Si, inset.

Kate gets to bottom of her Oscar’s bum bash

KATE WINSLET’s Oscar was left with a hole in its backside after her eldest child decided to “help”.

The mum of three, below with the award, says that her daughter, actress Mia Threapleton, decided to do some DIY on the statuette when she was little.

Speaking to Screen Actors Guild members at a pre-awards event promoting her latest movie Goodbye June, Kate said of her 2009 gong: “It has moved around quite a lot.

“It was on the back of the loo and then somebody moved it and it became a doorstop.

“He’s now a little bit bashed and bumped. In fact, there’s some paint that’s been scratched off his bum.”

She quizzed Mia – who was then aged around 11, and seven-year-old son Joe Mendes about the statuette, which she got for romantic drama The Reader. Kate continues: “I remember saying to Mia and Joe, ‘I’m not cross, but does anyone know why there’s that ­little hole on Oscar’s bottom?’ Mia looked at me and she went, ‘It was me, but I think I thought I was helping’.

“I think she thought that if she evened it out a bit, it would look more like a smooth little nice shape.

“She’d scratched this whole massive thing.”

Blake all set for red-letter date

BLAKE LIVELY shrugged off the latest twist in her legal battle with Justin Baldoni as she headed for a night out in New York.

In a red dress with a corset-style bodice, the Hollywood actress was photographed leaving accessories shop Stoney Clover Lane, after it was revealed their court showdown was being pushed back by two months.

Blake and Justin have been at war for months over allegations concerning their film It Ends With Us.

The trial will now start on May 18 next year.

It all hinges on the lawsuit Blake filed against Justin and others last year, where she accused him of sexually harassing her on set – as well as starting a “smear campaign” against her.

Blake claimed she has lost £120million since the saga started, including missing out on past and future wages.

If we thought Wagatha Christie was an explosive trial, I think this one is going to blow it out of the water.

Jon and Cyn in Wicked positions

CYNTHIA ERIVO doesn’t seem to know witch way is up.

The Wicked actress got into some odd positions with her film co-star Jonathan Bailey for a Wonderland Magazine photoshoot.

The Wicked: For Good stars interviewed each other for the latest edition of the mag.

British actress Cynthia showed just how flexible she is by putting her feet in the air in one shot.

Cynthia, who plays Elphaba, told Prince Fiyero actor Jonathan: “I really loved working with you. It’s one of my favourite things to have done, and I want to keep doing it. Because there’s a lack of fear.”

She added: “We’re just diving in.”

No1 for live play

COLDPLAY are confirmed as the highest-selling tour act of the millennium.

The band, fronted by Chris Martin has shifted nearly 25million tickets since 2000.

They top music publication Pollstar’s list of the 25 most popular touring artists over the past quarter of a century.

The stats reveal that while Taylor Swift has the highest-grossing tour of all time with her Eras run, her actual ticket stubs, at just over 18.8million are six million less than Coldplay’s 24.8million.

Also making the top ten are U2, Ed Sheeran and Elton John.

Coldplay’s fans have snapped up almost 25million tickets at 731 concerts since the band’s breakthrough shows.

Their first concert tour, Parachutes, kicked off in June 2000 and sold 260,000 tickets.

Their most recent tour, Music Of The Spheres, sold a gargantuan 13.1million tickets since it started in 2022.

That holds the record for the best-attended tour of all time and has the second-highest gross of any band’s concert series on record, with £1.1billion reported during its multi-year run.

The highest ranked American headliner in the top ten is stadium rock country crossover act Dave Matthews Band.

Charli: Let me vanish

CHARLI XCX has asked fans to forget who she is when they see her first major movie.

The pop star has a role in fantasy romance 100 Nights Of Hero, which is out in February.

Charli told movie website A Rabbit’s Foot: “My biggest goal is to disappear, for people to not see Charli XCX in my performances.

“I love film much more than music.

“I don’t feel the danger with music any more.

“I’m in control of every aspect of my music – the sound, my image, the performing.

“But with cinema, I have to surrender myself to someone else’s vision.”