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2 April 2015Copyright

Three’s Company parody play is ‘transformative’, says US court

A US court has ruled that a play that shares similar features with former TV show Three’s Company is a “transformative work” and is therefore protected against copyright claims.

Playwright David Adjmi sought a declaratory judgment from the US District Court for the Southern District of New York that his play 3C did not infringe the copyright of Three’s Company, which belongs to media company DLT Entertainment.

Three’s Company is a US television sitcom that was first broadcast in June 1977 and ended in 1984. Starring John Ritter, the sitcom explored the issues of three single people living in one apartment in Santa Monica, California.

3C, which parodies Three's Company, is based on three characters in a similar setting, but Adjmi claimed the play was about the way in which Three’s Company “presented and reinforced” stereotypes about gender, age and sexual orientation.

The New York court ruled on Tuesday (March 31) that “despite the many similarities between the two [works]”, 3C is clearly a transformative work.

Under US law, a work is considered “transformative” if it comments on or ridicules the material it is based on.

The court added: “3C conjures up Three’s Company by way of familiar character elements, settings and plot themes, and uses them to turn Three’s Company’s sunny 1970s Santa Monica into an upside-down dark version of itself.”

The play was first performed on June 6, 2012 at the Rattlestick Theater in New York. It ran until July 14 that year.

Adjmi’s action followed a cease-and-desist letter sent by DLT during the play’s run that requested the production be halted.

DLT also demanded that Adjmi provide a record of “all revenues derived from 3C”.

Since the play has stopped running Adjmi has sought to license the work to other theatres for further productions, prompting his request for a declaratory judgment.

Donald Taffner, president of DLT, told WIPR: "We are surprised and disappointed by the ruling and are reviewing our options."

Adjmi could not be reached for comment.

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