(LONDON) - BMG Entertainment International U.K. & Ireland is to pay Martin Goldschmidt, the former manager of U.S. singer/songwriter Michelle Shocked, and his label, Cooking Vinyl, ú10,000 ($16,000) damages plus costs following a libel suit in London's High Court. Shocked was also a defendant in the suit. The out-of-court settlement, agreed Oct. 2, relates to an allegedly libelous press release issued by BMG in the U.K. in October 1996.

The release was intended to publicize Shocked's album Kind Hearted Woman. However, it was a reference to an earlier work, The Texas Camp Fire Tapes -- appearing to quote Shocked -- that caused offense. The "Tapes" Recording has been the subject of several earlier U.K. court actions between Shocked and Goldschmidt, whose legal battles over alleged breaches of contract and copyright date back to 1989. Shocked's lawyer Michael Skrein says that this latest settlement means there is no outstanding litigation between the parties.