“Forgotten Hollywood”- Abbott and Costello Meet the Jury…
Manny P. here…
Abbott and Costello’s heirs are suing the producers of a Broadway play in which a character uses sock puppets to perform part of the comedians’ famous Who’s on First routine. The copyright holders sued Hand to God producers, promoters and playwright Robert Askins on Thursday in Manhattan federal court, accusing them of copyright infringement. ABBOTT AND COSTELLO —->
Hand to God is up for five Tony Awards on Sunday. The play’s lead producer, Kevin McCollum, called the filing on the eve of this weekend’s Tony’s is nothing more than a publicity stunt. He says the other producers welcome the attention.
The lawsuit seeking unspecified damages claims the play copied the very heart of Who’s on First. It claims the routine was lifted so the play could more easily be promoted as a comedy. Sometimes, courts have tossed out copyright lawsuits when it can be shown that previously used material was used in a new and transformative way. The comedy duo first performed Who’s on First in March 1938 with Lou trying to learn the names of players on a baseball team from Bud.
Bulletins as they break…
Until next time> “never forget”
This entry was posted on Friday, June 5th, 2015 at 11:40 am and is filed under Blog by Manny Pacheco. You can follow any comments to this post through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.
You must be logged in to post a comment.