THIS IS SPINAL TAP: Spinal Tap creators aim to ‘go to 11’ with $400m lawsuit.

The off-screen reunion brings together the characters of bassist Derek Smalls (played by Shearer), lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel (Christopher Guest), lead vocalist and guitarist David St Hubbins (Michael McKean), as well as director and narrator Rob Reiner.

They claim Vivendi manipulated accounting data, while ignoring contractually obligated accounting and reporting processes, to deny them their rightful stake in the film’s profits.

The complaint alleges that between 1989 and 2006, Vivendi reported that the total income from soundtrack music sales was just $98.

It also claims that Vivendi reported that the four creators’ share of total worldwide merchandising income between 1984 and 2006 was $81, despite music and merchandise linked to the film racking up “tens of millions of dollars” in revenue.

Guest said: “The deliberate obfuscation by Vivendi and its subsidiaries is an outrage. It is vital that such behaviour is challenged in the strongest way possible.”

That’s just nitpicking, isn’t it?