Spat Over Bond Rights And 'Parody' Musical

MGM say a musical about the spy can't happen without their approval but the producers claim it is not illegal to make a parody.

A row has erupted over plans for a James Bond musical and whether its producers need to have rights to the 007 franchise to put on a show.

Earlier this week Merry Saltzman, the daughter of Bond film producer Harry Saltzman, said she had secured the rights for a stage show which she wanted to put on in New York or Las Vegas.
She told Playbill.com: "Production schedules and trial runs are still being worked out in anticipation of a late 2017-early 2018 opening."
Ms Saltzman said the show would feature several classic Bond villains and "our own Bond girl".
But a statement on the official Bond website said that Danjaq LLC and MGM have not licensed any rights to Ms Saltzman so she can create the musical.
It said: "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."
Responding to the statement she told Playbill she never claimed to have any rights and was planning to make a "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," she said.
"We are producing a parody, no permissive rights are required from Eon, Danjaq, MGM et al to produce our show; it will not infringe on their intellectual property. James Bond: The Musical will go on as planned."
The next Bond film - Spectre - stars Daniel Craig as 007 and Christoph Waltz as the baddie Franz Oberhauser.
It is scheduled for release on 6 November, and comes after the success of Skyfall, which grossed $1.1bn (£700m) worldwide. See more:daylight.ng