Godfather of soul James Brown is being sued by his own daughters for more than $1m (�644,000) of song royalties they say they are owed.

Deanna Brown Thomas, who works at a South Carolina radio station, and Dr Yamma Brown Lumar, a Texas physician, say Brown has withheld royalties on 25 co-written songs because of a family grudge.

This is a sad scenario - they didn't want to handle it this way

Lawyer for Brown's daughters

The claim is being made despite the fact that both women were children when the songs were written - and only 3 years old and 6 years old when one of the works, Get Up Offa That Thing, was a hit in 1976.

Brown's ex-wife Diedre Jenkins also shares the copyright of the songs in dispute.

According to the daughters' lawyer, Brown, 69, has allowed only Ms Jenkins to receive her share of the royalties.

The lawsuit claims that he has held a grudge against his daughters since 1998, when Ms Thomas had her father committed to a psychiatric hospital to be treated for addiction to painkillers

Brown has had 98 entries on Billboard's top 40 R&B singles charts

After his release, Brown "vowed to the media that his daughters will never get a dime from him," according to the lawsuit.

The case goes on to accuse the singer of breach of contract, negligence and racketeering.

"This is a sad scenario - they didn't want to handle it this way," lawyer Gregory Reed said.

According to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution newspaper, Brown's lawyer Leon Friedman accepted that some money was owed to Brown's daughters in a letter to Mr Reed almost a year ago.

The newspaper said that Brown, who accepted that the two women were owed some $66,000 (�43,000), was prepared to pay them three times that amount if they would relinquish their share of the song copyrights.

Brown has made no comment on the case.