FORMER DIRECTOR SUES MERGATROYD

CLAIMS VIOLATION OF HIS COPYRIGHT.

NYTimes article about this case, "Exit, Pursued by a Lawyer

UPDATE: TAM LIN 2006

Edward Einhorn's attempt to establish a director's copyright in federal court failed when he was ordered by Judge Lewis Kaplan to cancel his unauthorized derivative copyright. But defending TAM LIN was extremely expensive, and so we can't afford a full production in 2006. But Edward Einhorn, along with his brother David Einhorn the lawyer, even with all their wealth and privilege, sense of entitlement, and absolute lack of any sense of proportion, cannot kill this play.
Go to the TAM LIN web site.

UPDATE: THE STRANGE CASE OF EDWARD EINHORN V. MERGATROYD PRODUCTIONS

Nancy McClernan's article "The Strange Case of Edward Einhorn v. Mergatroyd Productions" is in the current September-October 2006 issue of The Dramatist, the magazine of the Dramatists' Guild. An online version with hyperlink annotations is also available, here.

Einhorn has been involved in controversy over shows in the past. In 2000, he gained notoriety after it was reported in the Village Voice ("Disobeying the Forman") that playwright Richard Foreman issued an informal cease and desist order against Einhorn.

Einhorn left the 2004 TAM LIN production during tech week, the week prior to opening when the play is rehearsed with lights, sound and costume on the actual set. According to producer Jonathan Xavier Flagg (who is named as a defendant), Einhorn and Flagg mutually agreed that Einhorn should leave the production after the producers insisted the set and blocking be changed: "He wanted half the scenes to be performed behind a scrim under black lights, often with pictures projected on the scrim. The end result was that you couldn’t see the actors at all. When I insisted that the scrim be removed, Edward just said over and over again that he couldn’t re-block the play."

In December of 2004, nearly two months after the close of the production, Einhorn filed a copyright for a version of N.G. McClernan’s script that included some stage directions. Einhorn’s complaint claims that both last year’s production and the current production violate his copyright on those stage directions. Mergatroyd Productions answers that the 2004 production utilized blocking that had been significantly altered from Einhorn’s work, and the current production is completely different. There is also some question as to whether a director’s copyright of stage directions is a valid exercise of rights under the copyright law.

The playwright, N.G. McClernan (who is also named as a defendant) is directing this year’s production. “It’s weird to have a police officer knock at your door at 8:30 in the morning and inform you that you’re being sued by somebody you haven’t spoken to in a year," commented McClernan. "But it’s even weirder to have the person claim that your work belongs to him. Apparently because Einhorn made one aborted attempt to direct TAM LIN, he feels that he owns the rights to all subsequent productions in perpetuity. If former directors were commonly granted this level of ownership over the work of others, it would have an utterly chilling effect on American theatre."

The Dramatists Guild of America (of which McClernan is a member) agrees. The Guild says in its public policy statement: "It is the artistic heritage of the playwright and a long-standing principle of The Dramatists Guild of America that the dramatist owns and controls the intellectual property, including the copyright, of the author’s script and all changes of any kind whatsoever in the manuscript, title, stage business or performance of the play." Of attempts by directors to copyright stage directions, the policy states: “Such claims and actions infringe on the rights of dramatists to own and control their plays, and may inhibit the opportunities of other professionals, and audiences, to participate in the re-creation and enjoyment of the play.

In spite of the backstage drama, TAM LIN will go on with the show and complete each of its scheduled performances.

The cast includes Troy Acree, Mike Durell, Talaura Harms, Nick Lowe, Skid Maher, Randi Sobol, Len Childers, Christina Dunham, Jason Hare, and Nancy Nagrant. The set design is by Mergatroyd Productions and The Art Department; costume design by Cherie Cunningham (Elven costumes, Janet costume) and Carla Gant (human costumes); lighting design by Karen Sweeney; and sound design by Rich Baker. TAM LIN is produced by Jonathan Xavier Flagg and presented by Mergatroyd Productions.

TAM LIN will play 14 performances: October 8, 13, 14, 15, 20, 21, 22, 27, 28, 29 at 8:00PM. Matinees on October 9, 16, 23 and 30 at 3:00PM. TAM LIN will play at Theater Five, 311 w. 43rd Street, (between Eight and Ninth Avenues).

Visit the official website at www.tamlin-online.com.