A judge has thrown out the 'plagiarism' case brought against U2 for their song 'The Fly'

Last year, a British musician brought a lawsuit against U2 alleging that they had effectively stolen elements of one of his songs for their 1991 hit 'The Fly'.

Paul Rose had claimed that Bono and co. had heard his song 'Nae Slappin' in 1989 and was suing the Irish band for $5 million.

However, yesterday a judge in Manhattan, where the copyright infringement suit was filed, threw out Roses's case.

Judge Denise Cote gave a detailed account of her reasons for dismissal, mostly focusing on the song's guitar line. ""The fragment appears only once near the beginning of the recording; it is not repeated," she wrote. "It is one of multiple, at times seemingly random, guitar lines and styles strung together over the course of the composition."

Neither Rose nor U2 have yet commented on the dismissal.