Editing Liberty X (section)

===2000–2001: ''Popstars'', formation and name change===
While the five winning contestants of ''Popstars'' formed [[Hear'Say]], the five runner-up contestants—[[Michelle Heaton]], [[Tony Lundon]], [[Kevin Simm]], [[Jessica Taylor]] and [[Kelli Young]]—formed the group '''Liberty'''. The name Liberty was chosen to reflect the freedom the members experienced following their participation in ''Popstars''. Amidst pejorative media commentary (including the term "Flopstars"), the act signed a multi-million-pound record contract with [[Richard Branson]]'s independent record label, [[V2 Records]].<ref>{{Cite web|last=Corner|first=Lewis|date=2016-10-21|title=Whatever happened to Liberty X?|url=http://www.digitalspy.com/music/a780166/liberty-x-turn-15-take-a-look-at-what-the-popstars-runner-ups-did-next/|access-date=2021-06-17|website=Digital Spy|language=en-GB}}</ref>

Shortly after forming, Liberty received a legal challenge in the [[UK High Court]] from a funk R&B band, also called "Liberty", who achieved success in the 1990s, including being awarded Capital Radio Band of the Year, playing Wembley Arena, European tours and the release of albums in the US, Europe and UK. The original Liberty claimed that the newly formed Liberty was taking advantage of the goodwill that had been created by the former's success (known in [[English law]] as the "[[tort]] of [[passing off]]"). The final judgment was in favour of the funk R&B band and the ex-''Popstars'' then asked readers of UK tabloid newspaper ''[[The Sun (United Kingdom)|The Sun]]'' to suggest a new name.<ref>{{Cite web|last=C|first=Jeff|date=2002-10-07|title=Liberty X Vacation In Mauritius {{!}} popdirt.com|url=http://popdirt.com/liberty-x-vacation-in-mauritius/8443/|access-date=2021-06-17|website=popdirt.com|language=en-US}}</ref> The winning name was "X Liberty", but the group used the entry as the basis for the official title, '''Liberty X'''.