Cyndi Lauper settles ‘Kinky Boots’ copyright suit
American singer Cyndi Lauper has agreed to settle a lawsuit brought by singer-songwriter Benny Mardones, which claimed that Lauper used music from his song “Into the Night” for the finale of her Broadway musical “ Kinky Boots”.
In a letter filed on Friday, at the US District Court for the Southern District of New York, counsel for Mardones and fellow songwriter Robert Tepper said that the parties have agreed, in principle, to settle the case.
They asked district judge Victor Marrero to vacate all dates in the matter and to give the parties 30 days to complete a final settlement. Terms of the settlement were not disclosed.
Two years ago, Mardones and Tepper accused Lauper of using substantially similar lyrics and music in her song “Raise You Up”, which is featured twice in “Kinky Boots”.
The musical, with music and lyrics by Cyndi Lauper and book by Harvey Fierstein, has won six Tony awards, including Best Musical. “Kinky Boots” ended its Broadway run on April 7, 2019, after more than 2,500 performances.
“Both the notes and the words surrounding the ‘raise you up’ refrain, sung repeatedly in the infringing work, have been copied from the notes and words ‘pick you up’ from ‘Into the Night’,” said the claim.
At the time, Mardones and Tepper claimed that one of the musicians who toured with Mardones and is “intimately familiar” with “Into the Night” is now a touring musician with Lauper.
“Into the Night” was a Billboard Top 20 song for Mardones in 1980 and in 1989 when it was re-released.
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