A NEW YORK judge is set to hear arguments over what a jury can decide in a civil trial stemming from the Broadway production of Spiderman.
Judge Katherine Forrest must decide whether to dismiss fired director Julie Taymor’s claims that her copyright on a three-page script treatment for the musical was violated.
She also will decide the fate of counterclaims brought against Taymor by the show’s producers. A hearing is set for today.
Taymor was fired in 2011 as the $75 million production sputtered to get off the ground despite three months of preview performances.
The musical was rewritten and it successfully reopened last summer. Taymor sued the producers in November and they countersued. In court papers, the producers say Taymor’s treatment was based on pre-existing “Spiderman” comics and films.
Bono and The Edge composed the music for the show, which has been beset with problems and what some have called the ‘curse of Spiderman’. However it has since proved to be a hit, taking the highest single-week earnings of any show in Broadway history.
