Kierin Kirby, the Deee-Lite singer or, as she was known on stage, Lady Miss Kier, is trying to make some money off of Sega Japan, by suing the company of illegally using her character to give life to the one that appears in Space Channel 5, Ulala.

For those who don't remember, Deee-Lite scored a massive hit in the '90s, with the disco-influenced 'Groove Is in the Heart', a track that got massive MTV and radio airplay. Basically, it is the only single for which the band is remembered. But that's not how things really stand, according to the forgotten singer.

In 2003, she filed a suit in a Californian court of law, claiming that she had been contacted by Sega in 2000, years after the single got out, in order to sign an agreement, allowing the game creators to use her onstage character for a new one. Miss Kier refused, only to discover later that the Sega went through with the idea after all.

'Kirby was not interested and declined to cut a deal or give Sega permission to use her songs, likeness, or anything else. Subsequently, Kirby discovered that Sega had released the game and that it included a dancing female character named "Ulala" who Kirby felt resembled her Lady Miss Kier character in several respects. Among other "signature" characteristics, Lady Miss Kier was known for saying "ooh la la", as she does while introducing herself in the Groove is in the Heart video. Kirby thought Sega's use of "Ulala" was an obvious rip-off of her signature "ooh la la", and noted several other apparent similarities between Ulala and Lady Miss Kier.', a lawyer for the disco queen said in court papers.

Among the other similarities that the plaintiff saw were the high-platform boots, the pink hair, the various backpacks, the 'doe eyes' and many other things. Unfortunately for them, a judge just ruled, on very good arguments from Sega, that the Ulala character has nothing to do with Miss Kier.

As the company proved (with documents), the crew that worked on the game (in Japan, 1997-1999) did not even who Deee-Lite was at the time. And, to make matters even worse for the singer, she is now to pay almost $750,000 in legal fees for alleging a 'likeness' that wasn't even there.