A MUSIC impresario has launched a High Court copyright action against Iron Maiden – estimated to be worth up to £3m - over its trademark song on behalf of a songwriter friend who lives in a mobile home.

Ahead of the heavy metal band performing at Newcastle's Metro Radio Arena on Sunday, former Lindisfarne manager and North-East concert promoter Barry McKay has filed papers alleging Iron Maiden founder Steve Harris lifted both the words and lyrics of Life's Shadow, a song penned by Newcastle apprentice watchmaker Brian Quinn in 1969.

It is claimed a substantial section of Iron Maiden's 1982 song Hallowed Be Thy Name - which has been a fixture on their set list for decades - featured Mr Quinn's words, while the Life's Shadow music appeared on the band's 12th album, in a song titled The Nomad.

It is believed Sunday's show will not feature Hallowed Be Thy Name - voted by Iron Maiden fans as their favourite song - which featured on their UK album chart number one and US platinum-selling record The Number Of The Beast.

Legal papers released by the High Court state bassist Mr Harris - and three other defendants, Iron Maiden guitarist Dave Murray, the band's publishing company Imagem, and Newcastle band Beckett's guitarist, Robert Barton, are being sued for "unspecified damages over £200,000 for alleged copyright breaches".

Mr McKay said he was determined to stand up for the rights of his friend Mr Quinn, with whom he played in a band in the 1960s.

He said he believed the case would set a precedent due to the scale of the alleged copyright infringement.

Mr Quinn, 66, who now lives in a mobile home in Vancouver, Canada, said until the issue was raised with him he had never heard Iron Maiden's music, and had been stunned to learn his music and lyrics had helped make the band one of the world's most successful.

He said: "I wrote Lying in My Shadow (which later became Life's Shadow) during a trip to Sweden in 1969. It was to form part of a series of songs about the last surviving dragon and the last dragon slayer. I wrote the lyrics on the back of an airmail letter from my mother.

"I was on a ferry for 13 hours with nothing to do and started to think about my father's death when I was eight years old.

"In the early 1970s, back in Newcastle, I played Lying In My Shadow to my then very good friend Bob Barton. He loved it right off.

"A couple of years later Bob Barton called and said he was in a band called Beckett. He said he wanted to record my song, but he would make some changes. I said OK, just make sure I'm credited.

"I'm not exactly sure how it ended up with Iron Maiden, but I'm sure it will all come out in the court case. I'm told that a teenage Steve Harris had been a big fan of Beckett's and apparently often went to see them play at their London gigs."

The legal papers state Mr Barton recorded the song with Beckett in 1974, and made some minor alterations to it before it was initially registered in the 1970s with the Performing Right Society on the basis rights from it would be shared equally by the two musicians.

Mr Quinn claimed Mr Barton then registered the song with the Performing Right Society in 2011 with a 75/25 split in his favour.

The documents state that despite not being the original author of the song, Mr Barton launched a copyright infringement claim about five years ago, which is believed to have been settled with him for an undisclosed sum.

Mr Quinn said he felt dismayed he had never made a penny from the song he wrote as a teenager.

He added: "It's not just about the money because I realised a long time ago that I would never be a wealthy man. I was a single dad for a long time and brought up my two children.

"I'm now retired and I live in a mobile home, which I drive to Palm Springs in the winter months. I have no regrets about the way I've lived my life, but the number one thing for me now is for my grandson to know that I composed music and lyrics that have been so popular and to be proud of me."

In a statement issued ahead of The Book of Souls World Tour show on Sunday, an Iron Maiden spokesman said: "Phantom Management are aware of the action brought by Barry McKay (initially by Barry McKay and Brian Quinn) against Steve Harris and Dave Murray.

"The dispute concerns the song Life's Shadow, a song originally written in the early 1970s, credited to Robert Barton and Brian Ingham, and recorded by the band Beckett. Steve Harris was a fan of Beckett and some six lines from Life's Shadow were referenced in Steve's song, Hallowed Be Thy