Broadway News
Julie Taymor Sues Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark
Julie Taymor isn't done with Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark just yet. The fired director has filed a lawsuit against the production for using her work without payment. Previously, Taymor asked for more than $500,000 in royalties. That claim went to arbitration, and the result has not been disclosed. However, now that the show is one of the biggest sellers on Broadway, Taymor is asking for profits, as the show has continued to use portions of her creative vision and staging.
"Ms. Taymor regrets that the producers' actions have left her no choice but to resort to legal recourse to protect her rights," said Charles Spada, Taymor's attorney, in a statement.
The Hollywood Reporter's Eriq Gardner reports:
"Taymor's legal move isn't unprecedented. In the mid-1990s, director Joe Mantello managed to get the U.S. Copyright Office to accept his application of an annotated script of Love! Valour! Compassion! a Terrence McNally play. When a Florida-based regional production company attempted to put on a production without acknowledging and paying Mantello, he successfully sued.
Other directors haven't found as much luck.
For instance, in 2004, producers of an off-Broadway production of Tam Lin were sued by a fired director, Edward Einhorn, who argued that his work in developing the play entitled him to part of the copyright. A judge released a preliminary ruling that raised doubts about this claim, saying he saw no evidence of a copyrightable annotated script at the time of Einhorn's firing. Before a judge made a definitive judgment, the two sides settled for $800.
The Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers have long supported the contention that directors and possibly choreographers deserve a piece of copyright and the ability to participate in the income generated by productions. The issue hasn't been settled, but the forthcoming Taymor case could be an opportunity for the theatrical community to discuss authorship for copyright purposes."
Buy Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark Tickets
Photo credit: Jamie McCarthy/Getty Images North America
FACEBOOK COMMENTS