The heirs of "Rent" author Jonathon Larson have filed suit against a now-familiar opponent, "Rent" dramaturg Lynn Thomson. Thomson, meanwhile, has asked the court to dismiss the suit in a motion for summary judgement.
The Larson family controls the rights to the Pulitzer Prize and Tony Award-winning pop musical and seeks to exploit the work in film and elsewhere. This is the second lawsuit involving "Rent" and Lynn Thomson, and the first suit filed by the Larson heirs.
In their suit, filed on May 14, the Larsons claim Thomson "has no rights against the 'Rent' licensees" and seeks relief from her alleged "unlawful interference" with "current and prospective contractual relations."
"Rent" was authored by the late Jonathan Larson, who died of an aortic aneurysm on the eve of his play's opening in January of 1996. Larson and Thomson worked on the play together extensively, with Larson as playwright and Thomson as dramaturg. When Larson died intestate, Thomson had no written contract and was not credited, she claims, in accordance with her actual contribution to the show.
The situation, which pits a respected dramaturg against the heirs of a trusted collaborator, has also focused attention on the role of a dramaturg and the nature of credit and compensation he or she should receive. Larson never saw "Rent" open, but the play has been a stunning success, moving from humble non-profit beginnings Off-Broadway to become a mega-Broadway hit. The popular musical is based on Puccini's "La Boheme."
Estimates of the future earning potential for "Rent " are sometimes staggering, reaching as high as $1 billion.
The suit by the Larson heirs opens a second front in a legal battle that began Nov. 25, 1996, when Thomson filed suit claiming co-authorship of what she believes is a "joint work." To date, Thomson has been paid an initial $2,000 by the New York Theatre Workshop, which produced "Rent," plus a subsequent $8,000, totalling $10,000. On July 23, 1997, Judge Lewis A. Kaplan of the Federal District Court in Manhattan ruled that Thomson was not a statutory or "legal" co-author according to the "Childress Standard."
Thomson's lawyer, Russel Smith, indicated that Kaplan "made a finding that she wrote non-deminimis (significant or not minimal) portions of 'Rent' which were copyrightable, as well as other non-lyrical portions which 'may well be' copyrightable." This is a fundamental aspect of Thomson's appeal, and is at the root of her efforts to seek licenses for her copyrightable portions of "Rent."
The Larsons are seeking relief from Thomson, who has independently approached Miramax, a potential producer of "Rent" about licensing her material in the play. In a letter to Miramax, dated April 30, Thomson's attorney's indicated she was "prepared to license her copyrights in connection with the upcoming motion picture in exchange for royalties in the amount of twenty per cent of any amounts paid to, or to be paid to the Larson heirs " Thomson would also require "appropriate dramaturgical credit." Although Thomson may not be a statutory co-author, if the court recognizes her contributions as copyrightable she may have more rights than she would as a co-author, which she still hopes to establish.
Thomson maintains that she is a co-author and on Aug. 27, 1997, appealed the first Kaplan decision to the 2nd Circuit Court of Appeals. The appeal is being considered by judges Guido Calabresi, Myron Bright, and Wilfred Feinberg.
Judge Calabresi has stated, "there's no indication that she turned her copyrights over to Jonathan Larson, and there is objective evidence that she did not do so, and she presumably has the right to sue for infringement for the unauthorized use of her own material.
