The author of Fela's biography, Carlos Moore is suing the producers of the broad way hit Fela.According to published reports, Carlos Moore has filed a $5 million dollar lawsuit against the producers of the Broadway play for copyright infringement.
In court records, Carlos Moore states that after directors Jim Lewis and Bill Jones read his book, Fela: This b***h of a Life, the duo offered him $4,000 for rights to the biography.
Moore states that although he rejected the “insufficient” deal, the directors went on to create the play without his consent and even “copied entire pages” from Moore's book.
Although damaging, Fela! producers are firing back, stating that Moore participated in the promotion of the play in 2009.
“Carlos has been incredibly supportive of the show” producer Stephen Handel told the New York Times. “Several years ago, he saw the Off Broadway show. He was willing to sit and be interviewed by our people, to talk about Fela and Fela's legacy, and that interview has been on YouTube for a long time, and at his request we have been selling his book both in the theater since we opened and on our web site. We're disappointed and somewhat perplexed, and hope at some point we can get this resolved.”
Moore has also filed a cease and desist to halt all future performances of the Tony Award winning play, which is slated to close on Jan 2, 201
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