Bob Dylan

The deal, completed last July, includes everything from classic 1960s albums like Blonde On Blonde, up to his latest release, 2020's Rough And Rowdy Ways.

Billboard magazine says the catalogue is worth about $200m (£149m), based on annual revenues of roughly $16m (£12m).

Dylan previously sold his publishing to Universal Music for a reported $400m.

That deal covered the rights to Dylan's lyrics and compositions, which Sony had previously administered outside the US.

A spokesman for Dylan, now 80, said the allegations were false.

"The 56-year-old claim is untrue and will be vigorously defended," the spokesman said.

In a civil lawsuit filed late on Friday with the New York Supreme Court, the woman identified only as JC said Dylan sexually abused her at his New York apartment over a six-week period "leaving her emotionally scarred and psychologically damaged to this day".

The deal is one of the biggest acquisitions in Universal's history and means the company will collect all future income from the songs.

It includes both the income Dylan currently receives as a songwriter and his control of each song's copyright.

The 79-year-old is known all over the world for songs like The Times They Are A-Changin', and Like a Rolling Stone.

Universal will acquire around 600 tracks, taken from a career spanning six decades.

The terms of the deal were not made public, but it is thought to be worth hundreds of millions of dollars.

He said the honour had left him "speechless", the Nobel Foundation said in a statement.

The foundation said it had not yet been decided if the singer would attend the awards ceremony in December.

However, Dylan reportedly told a UK newspaper he intended to pick up the award in person "if at all possible".

The 75-year-old rock legend received the prize "for having created new poetic expressions within the great American song tradition".

The balladeer, artist and actor is the first American to win since novelist Toni Morrison in 1993.

President Obama said the honour was "well-deserved".

"Congratulations to one of my favourite poets," he wrote on Twitter.