Tulisa Wins a Legal Battle Against Britney Spears and Will.i.am

Victorious: Tulisa has won a five-year legal battle over songwriting credits on Britney Spears and Will.i.am's chart-topping track Scream & Shout. Pictured in October 2017 (Source: Hewitt - SilverHub - REX - Shutterstock)

Tulisa has won a legal battle against Britney Spears and Will.i.am after suing them for being left out of writing credits on their hit track Scream & Shout.

The former X Factor judge, 29, had maintained that she co-wrote the chart-topping song - which was released in November 2012 and went on to become Britney's first UK number one in eight years - and had planned to feature it on her debut album.

Her victorious five-year legal battle over songwriting credits is set to land the erstwhile N-Dubz star a massive payday, as she has been awarded 10 per cent of the worldwide publishing rights and income from the song.

Tulisa helped penned the song under the title I Don't Give A F**k for her album The Female Boss, and was not only eventually shut out of recording the track but learned that Scream & Shout had been credited to Will.i.am, Jef Martens and Jean Baptiste.

A source told MailOnline: 'Tulisa was annoyed when the song was taken from her and given to Britney - especially as she co-wrote it.

'It was set to be one of the big songs on her debut album. She didn’t let it lie, and took it all the way to the courts and has now won. She just wanted to be recognised as the writer of one of the biggest pop tracks of the last decade.'

Black Eyed Peas star Will.i.am, 43, had admitted at the time of the fallout over the track: 'Tulisa wrote to that song before I did – this is the truth. But the producers of the beat… didn't want her to have it.'

Tulisa insisted that Will.i.am and Britney’s version still included parts she had written including the line: 'When you hear this in the club, you'd better turn this s**t up.'

She also asserted that the track even still had her voice on it mixed in with Britney's. A musicologist report even claimed that Britney sang over Tulisa's vocals and Tulisa's vocals are still on the track.

All the money made from the track was frozen in 2012 when Tulisa launched her lawsuit. Now all the money can be released and Tulisa will get 10 per cent of everything the track has made in it's lifetime.

Back in 2009, Tulisa rose to fame in MOBO-winning hit band N-Dubz alongside cousin Dappy and bandmate Fazer.

Her stardom continued to rise as she was chosen for the X Factor judging panel in 2011 and 2012, becoming the first judge to win the groups section with Little Mix, and she soon switched her look from blonde to chestnut-hued hair.

But things started to go downhill when the songstress was accused of arranging for journalist Mazher Mahmood to be sold £800 of cocaine by one of her contacts following an elaborate sting for The Sun on Sunday in May 2013.

However, the journalist, dubbed the 'Fake Sheikh', was last year sentenced to 15 months in jail for perverting the course of justice during her drugs trial in 2014, and the case collapsed.

In recent months, she has been overseas to attend 'meetings and auditions', as well as recording new music, and has been busy filming the pilot for a potential TV series.

Speaking to the Mirror in July, a source revealed that things were on the up for the Young singer with the slated reality show, saying: 'Tulisa has been out of the limelight for a while, and wants to ensure she returns in the right way.

'She's had a lot of ups and downs in the past few years and this warts-and-all-style documentary series will let the public see her for who she really is.'

In September, MailOnline exclusively learned that Tulisa was in a relationship with Cher's music producer nephew David King.

An insider said: 'They've been spending a lot of time together and are both currently staying at Cher's Malibu home.

'They met earlier this year - he's a music producer and he was working on tracks with Tulisa in the studio for her upcoming project.'