‘Fela!’ Is Sued for Copyright Infringement

The author of a biography of the Afrobeat musician Fela Anikulapo Kuti has filed suit against the producers and creative team of the Broadway musical “Fela!”, saying the stage production infringes on the copyright to his book and seeking an injunction against the show.

In his complaint, filed on Monday in federal district court in Manhattan, lawyers for Carlos Moore, the author of a biography called “Fela: This Bitch of a Life,” say the musical “copies portions of Moore’s book verbatim,” adding, “Entire portions were simply copied from Moore’s book and inserted into the script of the musical.”

The complaint names production companies involved with “Fela!” as defendants, as well as Bill T. Jones, its director, choreographer and co-author of its book; Jim Lewis, the other co-author; and Stephen Hendel, a producer.

Mr. Moore says in the suit that he worked closely with Mr. Kuti to write his biography, which was first published in French and English in 1982. On at least two occasions, Mr. Moore says, he was approached by producers of “Fela!”: once in 2007, when he says producers sought to obtain some rights to his book but “adequate compensation was never proposed”; and in 2009 when, Mr. Moore says, he was asked to consult on the show and believed that he would be compensated for this work.

Among the similarities between his book and the show that the lawsuit cites is their use of a character called Afa Ojo (or “She Who Commands the Rain”), a ghost that Mr. Moore says he created to provide the voice of Mr. Kuti’s dead mother, Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti. The complaint says, “the musical introduces Moore’s character in virtually the same way the character is introduced in the book.”

In a telephone interview on Tuesday, Mr. Hendel said he had not yet seen Mr. Moore’s suit, adding: “Carlos has been incredibly supportive of the show. 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 in the theater since we opened and at our Web site. We’re disappointed and somewhat perplexed, and hope at some point we can get this resolved.”

Dave Itzkoff @'NY Times'