Oasis Halt Auction of Rare Live Tapes After Legal Injunction

A planned auction of previously unheard Oasis recordings has been called off after the band launched legal action to block the sale.

The collection, which had been expected to fetch between £1.2m and £1.6m, was due to go under the hammer at Littleton Auctions in Evesham next month. However, the sale was suspended following an injunction filed by the Manchester rock group.

The items at the centre of the dispute are known as "The Desk Tapes" and were amassed by Huw Richards, who served as the band's sound engineer during their rise to global fame. He worked with Oasis from the release of their debut album, Definitely Maybe, in 1994 until 2001, capturing hundreds of hours of material.

The archive is made up of 63 separate live shows as well as soundcheck recordings. According to the auction house, the collection includes more than 100 hours of Noel and Liam Gallagher performing and rehearsing during the 1990s.

The sale was first announced earlier this month, with Littleton Auctions describing it as a "once-in-a-generation opportunity for fans and collectors alike". At the time, the auction house confirmed that the band did not support the sale of the recordings.

In a statement, Littleton Auctions' managing director, Ben Homer, confirmed that the lot had been withdrawn from the 3 October auction because of the legal proceedings now underway. He said the auction house was "very disappointed" that it could not offer what he described as a "significant archive" as planned.

The recordings had been brought to auction by Owain Richards, the son of the sound engineer who made them. He confirmed that Oasis had sued both him and his father in an attempt to prevent the tapes from being sold.

Owain Richards said the family had agreed to postpone the auction so that the dispute could be resolved "either by litigation or otherwise in an orderly way". The decision means the tapes will remain unsold for now, while the two sides attempt to settle their differences.

The band's intervention highlights the growing tension between music artists and the collectors' market for behind-the-scenes material. Sound engineers, road crew and other backstage staff often accumulate unique recordings and memorabilia during their careers, but the ownership and copyright status of such material can be far from straightforward.

For Oasis, the tapes represent an intimate record of the group during their commercial peak — a period when they released a string of hit albums and played some of the biggest shows of their career. The soundchecks in particular offer a rare glimpse of the band away from the stage, warming up and working through songs before audiences arrived.

The timing of the auction had added to interest in the sale. Oasis announced a highly anticipated reunion tour last year, with Liam and Noel Gallagher performing together again after years of public feuding. That renewed attention has driven demand for Oasis memorabilia and rare recordings to new heights.

Despite the withdrawal of The Desk Tapes, the rest of the Littleton Auctions sale will go ahead as planned. Homer stressed that the remainder of the auction is unaffected and will take place as normal, adding that the auction house respects the legal process and would not comment further on the proceedings at this stage.

Among the other items due to be sold are internal tour itineraries, original setlists, an Epiphone guitar that was played by the band and an original Kangol Oasis tour parka. These pieces of memorabilia are expected to attract strong bidding from fans and collectors keen to own a piece of Britpop history.

The BBC has contacted representatives for Oasis for comment on the injunction. Neither the band nor its lawyers have so far issued a public statement about the legal action.

The dispute is likely to focus on questions of ownership and permission. While the physical tapes may have been created by Huw Richards in the course of his work, the performances captured on them remain the creative output of the band. Sorting out who has the right to sell such recordings can involve complex questions of copyright, contract and consent.

For now, the auction house has been left to focus on the remaining lots, while the Richards family and the band's legal team prepare for a potential court battle. The outcome could set an important precedent for how unreleased live recordings made by crew members are treated in the future.

Fans hoping to get their hands on the unheard material will have to wait, as the tapes remain in limbo pending the resolution of the legal case. Whether they eventually reach the open market, are returned to the band or form part of a settlement remains to be seen.

The suspension of the sale marks the latest chapter in the long and eventful history of Oasis, a band whose internal rivalries and triumphs have fascinated the public for three decades. Even in retirement from the studio, their legacy continues to generate headlines — and now, legal disputes.