There are tons of legal
controversies taking place in the musical theater industry. Here are a few recent disputes;
Amy, Amy, Amy:
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| canyouhearthis.co.uk |
In January of this year, there were plans to debut a musical based on the life of Amy Winehouse. The musical, “Amy”, featured songs from the R&B/Soul
songstress’ repertoire, while also incorporating her personal life, letters,
speeches, interviews, performances, and other documents. The musical,
written by a consortium of Danish playwrights, was set to premiere at Royal
Danish Theatre. Unfortunately, the singer’s family was not consulted about the
musical based around Amy’s life and deemed the production to be “exploitative.” Once Amy’s father, Mitch, caught wind of the
musical he immediately sought legal aid to seize the production. It turns out, the production company had not
received the proper permission they needed to use the singer’s material. The production was denounced just a couple of
months before its premier.
The
Winehouse family has dealt with a lot when it came to Amy and her battle with
abuse. With the type of publicity that
has been circulating around her death, it is understandable that her family would have considered this musical exploitative. I believe that a musical based
around Amy’s life is a great idea and would make for a phenomenal show. However, the producers should have to get the
proper permission to use her music.
Producers should also be required to consult the family with their plans
as well.
Taymor vs. Spider-Man:
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| www.nydailynews.com |
After two years of
ongoing dispute, the producers of the new musical “Spider-Man: Turn Off the
Dark”, has finally come to an agreement. Julie Taymor, a Broadway writer and director, has
been in court with the lead producers of the musical for unlawful use of her
copyrighted written works. Taymor claims
that the producers of the show have not been paying her the contractually
guaranteed authorship royalties.
Jeremiah Harris and Michael Cohl, the producers of the musical,
countersued claiming that after before being fired from the musical,
Taymor refused “to fulfill her contractual obligations.” After two years of litigation, the two
parties finally settled on an agreement.
Details of the lawsuit were not open to the pubic, but it is said to be
“by mutual agreement of all parties.”
After Julie Taymor
was replaced, the script was rewritten and reproduced. Many of Taymor’s contributions had been replaced in the newer version. Because of this, I
believe that Harris and Cohl are valid in their position to not pay
all the royalty fees that were due to Julie in their contract.
Three's Company, 3C's a Crowd
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| www.ibtimes.com |
David Adjmi was
creating a huge buzz around his music “3C”, a comedic parody of the classic
sitcom “Three’s Company.” On opening
night, Adjmi received a cease-and-desist letter from the copyright owner of the
sitcom. The owner claimed that “3C” was
infringing by using so many elements from the television series. David Adjmi feared that he would be hit with
a large legal suit and agreed to stop the production. The musical was given a five-week run and was
then put to rest. Fellow playwrights
have urged him to fight and have offered their support through letters and petitions.
After reviewing
some of the aspects of the musical, I agree that Adjmi used too many elements
from the sitcom. He should have gotten
the proper permission to produce “3C.”
Also, the “Three’s Company” producers are talking about producing a
theatrical version of the hit sitcom. If
they do, David Adjmi’s “3C” could end up being a conflict of interest.
