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10 July 2015Copyright

MGM shoots down James Bond musical plans

MGM has shot down plans for a James Bond-themed musical despite subsequent claims that it will be a parody.

Merry Saltzman, daughter of late Bond film producer Harry Saltzman, told Broadway news website Playbill earlier this week that her company Placeholder Productions has secured the rights to launch a stage show in the US about the British secret agent.

The proposed musical, which had a title of “James Bond: The Musical”, was due to open in either 2017 or 2018, Saltzman said.

But Danjaq and film studio MGM which manage copyright and trademarks related to the James Bond franchise, have put a spanner in the works.

Posting on the official “James Bond 007” Facebook page on Wednesday, July 8, the companies said: “Danjaq and MGM confirm they have not licensed any rights to Merry Saltzman or her production company to create a James Bond musical.

“Danjaq and MGM jointly control all live stage rights in the Bond franchise, and therefore no James Bond stage show may be produced without their permission.”

But responding to the statement, Saltzman told Playbill that she was planning on producing a parody and that no “permissive rights are required” to produce the show.

“Danjaq and MGM’s statements are accurate as far as they go. Placeholder Productions’ and my statements are also accurate. Placeholder did not claim to have purchased rights to a stage production (nor did we intend to imply we had).

“Placeholder did (and did claim to) purchase rights to a James Bond musical parody written by Dave Clarke with music and lyrics by Jay Henry Weisz.

“The key word here is ‘parody’. Parody, the courts have repeatedly upheld, is fully protected under the fair use principle of the US Copyright Act of 1976 and, as such, does not require permission from the owners of the intellectual property being parodied.”

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