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Two people are being investigated by police in Germany after being accused of stealing songs from artists like Lady Gaga, Justin Timberlake and Ke$ha.

Media reports in the country have named the pair as 18-year-old student Deniz A and Christian M.

They are under investigation for using a trojan horse virus to hack into the artists' computers for about 12 months before being discovered.

Prosecutor Rolf Haferkamp wouldn't comment on which songs were stolen.

It's thought to have forced the early release of several singles.

Newspapers claimed the pair had attached the trojan to an MP3 file that was then sent to the official addresses of the stars, their managers and their record companies.

Deniz A was quoted in Germany's biggest selling daily paper Bild saying: "I'm a fan and I just wanted to have cool music. I'm no blackmailer."

Haferkamp said the investigation should be concluded by January and could lead to criminal charges.

If convicted the pair could be sentenced to up to five years in prison or face big fines for damages.