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Conn. Fed. Court Distinguishes Funny Girl Lyrics Royalty Rights from Copyright
A federal judge in the U.S. District Court for the District of Connecticut sided with the family of a production company executive in finding that the wife of late Broadway lyricist Bob Merrill had no right, under §304(c) of the U.S. Copyright Act, to cancel a more than 50-year-old royalty agreement between the executive and Merrill. Merrill v. Hyman, 3:21-cv-551 (2022).
Merrill wrote and copyrighted the lyrics to the musical Funny Girl, including the now-classic song "Don't Rain On My Parade." In November 1963, Merrill and his co-authors, the musical's book writer and composer, struck a deal with a production company to produce the musical. The company got the exclusive right to produce the play, while Merrill was offered 2.5% to 3% of gross box-office receipts, 19.5% of profits from the original cast album and 20% of book sales.
In December 1963, Merrill signed a contract with Eliot Hyman, an executive at the production company, to swap some of Merrill's future royalties for cash. According to the contract, Hyman gave Merrill $82,500 in exchange for "an undivided two-thirds … interest in … [Merrill's] right to receive such royalties, percentage compensation, rights to other compensation, including, but not limited to, all compensation derived from any source whatever in and in connection with 'Funny Girl.'"
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