Paul Cozby, who penned his own play called "High School Musical" months before Disney’s version hit the bigtime, finds that a little controversy may be a good thing. Cozby will now have a reading of his play on Broadway. This might create an interesting situation for Disney with competing versions of the same titled play existing at the same time.
Playbill points out that some theatrical company will buy Cozby’s version just because they can’t afford Disney’s licensing fees. Asked about the Disney production Cozby said:
"I was just very surprised," he said. "The plot elements are just very
similar. If you put the two works side by side, the similarities are
remarkable — obviously beginning with the title."
Cozby’s lawyer, Charles Baker of the Houston firm Porter & Hedges
LLC, told Playbill.com that Cozby has filed suit against Disney
Enterprises, "claiming they stole his idea, claiming they infringed
upon his trademark title [and] seeking damages and seeking an
injunction" against the use of the title by Disney and, essentially,
the continuation of the property.
That might throw a wrench in Disney’s plans.
Previously on The Disney Blog.
uhh… New World Stages is an Off-Broadway theatre, so this wasn’t a “reading of his play on Broadway” – big difference.
Comments are closed.