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BigLaw "Angels" Help Out Small Theater

New York Lawyer
February 22, 2008

By Amy Kolz
The American Lawyer

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The following report is one of several published in the July 2008 issue of The American Lawyer that look at some of the most intriguing and unusual pro bono cases handled by The Am Law 200.

Imitation may be the sincerest form of flattery, but not when it comes to Broadway shows. That was the case with a Chicago nonprofit group's production of Urinetown: The Musical. In November 2006 the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers, United Scenic Artists, and members of the Broadway production of Urinetown accused the Chicago creative team of misappropriating several aspects of the show. The Chicago artists, who'd wrapped up their production of the musical the previous May, denied the claim, and in response, they filed a defamation suit in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois.

The Chicagoans were originally represented by solo practitioner David Adler, but Lawyers for the Creative Arts, a Chicago-based legal services firms, recruited Foley & Lardner to lead the litigation in the spring of 2007. (Adler remained involved as well.)

The Chicago production had acquired the rights to Urinetown's script, but the Broadway team asserted rights over such things as stage direction, lighting, and choreography. The U.S. Copyright Office has so far denied copyrights for stage directions, and the U.S. Department of Justice intervened in the case, saying that stage direction can not be copyrighted.

Noting that his client worked in theater part-time, Martin Bishop, Foley's lead lawyer on the case, says that "it was sort of a David-versus-Goliath scenario. My guys were trying to stand up for small theater. But the Society of Stage Directors and Choreographers come in with their war chest and pound [small theaters] around the country, saying, 'Pay us a royalty or we're going to sue you.'" (The Broadway team was also involved in litigation against a Urinetown production in Akron; that action settled on July 2.)

The Foley lawyers spent roughly 1,000 hours on the matter, and after four months of negotiations, the Chicago and Broadway parties announced a settlement in November 2007. The terms were confidential, but Bishop says that Foley's clients, who agreed to pay an undisclosed sum to the members of the Broadway group, were satisfied.

PRO BONO SCORECARD 2008 Foley & Lardner ranked 87th on this year's Scorecard (down from 32 last year). The average number of pro bono hours per lawyer was 38.9; 46.1 percent of the firm's lawyers contributed more than 20 hours to pro bono matters last year.