In what might rank as the world’s longest running legal strife since Dickens’ “Bleak House,” the Beatles and their survivors are again suing Capitol Records and EMI Records, alleging fraud because of underpaid royalties. The latest round took place in a Manhattan court room where a judge has rejected a defense motion to dismiss the suit, reports The New York Law Journal.

The group wants damages of $25 million for fraud. The basic allegation is that Capitol wrote off records as scrap but then turned around and sold them. They then pocketed the royalties. The evidence for this came from discovery in a 1995 lawsuit, which made similar allegations. The first such suit was filed in 1979 and it too gave rise to the second suit. Each of those rounds resulted in a settlement.

The defense wanted to knock out the latest claim that Capitol had breached its fiduciary duty. Like children who had murdered their parents and then sought pity because they were orphans, the record companies claimed there could be no fiduciary duty after decades of mistrust and litigation.

The latest suit has no impact on the Cirque de Soleil show at the Mirage but clearly the litigation will go on for some time yet.