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Twists and Turns of Copyright Litigation Over <i>Jersey Boys</i> Musical Reach Latest Stage
The Four Seasons were a 1960's pop group whose rise to stardom also involved mob connections and a gang of hits, such as “Sherry,” “Big Girls Don't Cry” and “Walk Like a Man.” In 1990, the vocal group was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. In 2004, a musical play based on the lives of the Four Seasons opened. Called Jersey Boys, the musical moved to Broadway where it won four Tony awards. In 2014, Jersey Boys was adapted into a movie directed by Clint Eastwood. Since 2007, the development of the musical has been the source of protracted litigation that reached its latest stage in June 2017. Corbello v. DeVito, 2:08-cv-00867 (D. Nev.).
Case Background
The Four Seasons consisted of Frankie Valli, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and Nick Massi. The intricate back story to the Jersey Boys litigation is that, in 1988, Rex Woodard, a Texas lawyer and a journalist, entered into a written agreement with DeVito to ghostwrite DeVito's autobiography. The agreement specified that Woodard and DeVito would be listed as co-authors of the book and equally divide the proceeds from publishing or otherwise exploiting it. The agreement also stated it would be binding on the parties' heirs. After completing the book manuscript, Woodard died of cancer in 1991. Four months before Woodard's death and without his knowledge, DeVito registered the book with the U.S. Copyright Office solely in his own name.
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