London musical ‘Superhero’ faces legal action from Fathers4Justice in copyright dispute
Campaign organisation Fathers4Justice (F4J) have said a London musical faces legal action after it was found substantial parts of the 2007 book, “Fathers4Justice: The Inside Story”, written by F4J founder Matt O’Connor, may have been used in the show.
A letter has been sent to the writers of “Superhero” asking them to cease and desist use of the existing script and suspend development of the show pending resolution of the dispute.
The musical, which ran from 28th June to 22nd July 2017 at the Southwark Playhouse, is understood to have adapted parts of the book without the author’s permission or publicly crediting him. The writers are understood to have confirmed they used the book as one of the source materials for the musical.
Time Out magazine in its review said of the show, “it could just as easily be called ‘Fathers 4 Justice: The Musical’”.
Under Section 21 of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Acts 1988, the making of an adaptation of the work is an act restricted by the copyright in a literary, dramatic or musical work.
Said a spokesman for F4J, ‘We are very supportive of projects that tell the important story of Fathers4Justice and the separated fathers we represent, however we are disappointed that substantial elements from Matt O’Connor’s life story, as published in his autobiography, appear to have been used without permission, in breach of the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.’
‘Had we been approached by the shows creators prior to its launch, we are confident this situation could have been avoided. The matter is with our lawyers, M Law, and we hope the situation can be resolved with the cooperation of the creators of Superhero’.
O’Connor sold the motion picture and stage show rights to his life story to Disney owned Buena Vista Pictures in 2005. A rock musical based on his book is currently in development.
For more news read:
https://www.londontheatre.co.uk/theatre-news/news/fathers4justice-threatens-london-musical-producers-with-legal-action
