Oasis takes legal action to stop sale of unreleased recordings valued at more than £1m | Oasis

A collection of unreleased Oasis recordings, including 63 concerts, hours of rehearsals and candid conversations between Noel and Liam Gallagher, has been withdrawn from auction after legal action by the band.

In September, Littleton Auctions in Worcestershire, England, listed the collection made by the band’s former sound engineer, Huw Richards, with a guide price of between £1.2 million and £1.6 million.

Richards worked with Oasis from the release of their 1994 debut album, Definitely, Maybe, until 2001. The collection of 209 DAT cassettes, 73 analogue cassettes and three MiniDiscs was sold by the recording engineer’s son, Owain Richards.

“Littleton Auctions confirms that the Oasis recordings known as The Desk Tapes have been withdrawn from our October 3 auction in light of legal proceedings,” the auction house’s chief executive, Ben Homer, told the BBC.

“We are very disappointed that we will not be able to offer this important archive as planned. »

In an interview with The Times in September, Owain Richards, also a sound engineer, called the collection “a piece of history.” He said the audio remained in good enough condition, but because Oasis retained intellectual property rights, the recordings could not be released by a potential new owner without the band’s cooperation.

“It is true that Oasis took my father and I to court to try to stop the auction of tapes made by my father many years ago,” Richards told the BBC on Wednesday.

“We have agreed to postpone the auction (of the tapes) to allow the legal dispute to be resolved either judicially or in an orderly manner.”

Littleton Auctions will continue the auction on Saturday, with other music memorabilia up for sale, including an original Kangol Oasis tour parka from Richards’ collection, as well as signed Nirvana photographs, autographs from two of the members of the Rolling Stones and a guitar signed by Brian May.

“The remainder of the sale is unaffected and will proceed as normal,” Homer said. “We respect the legal process and will make no further comment on the proceedings at this stage.”

Last month, Noel and Liam Gallagher attended the world premiere of documentary film Oasis: Don’t Look Back in Anger at the Venice Film Festival, followed by its UK premiere in London. The band also recently announced their Live ’27 world tour following their successful 2025 reunion tour.

Oasis has been contacted for comment.