Unless you’ve got a pre-teen daughter at home, chances are you can’t tell the difference between the Backstreet Boys and ‘N Sync. Come to think of it, it’s not so easy to keep these prepackaged musical groups apart even with a youngster around who’s constantly singing along to their latest hits.

As it turns out, the members of the two prevailing boy bands themselves are now caught up in something of a musical identity crisis. Only this one is likely to be played out in courtrooms and lawyers’ offices rather than on concert stages and in recording studios.