Settlement Not Yet Reached Between SPIDER-MAN's Producers and Director Julie Taymor; Trial Date Set for May 27

According to Reuters, a final settlement has still not been reached in the copyright infringement case between the producers of Broadway's Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark and former director Julie Taymor.

Both sides have now resumed litigation, and Taymor's lawyer Charles Spada wrote in a letter on January 9 that both parties are "hopeful that a final settlement can be reached within the next few days." A trial is scheduled for May 27, 2013.

Read the original report here.

Spada also wrote in December 2012 that any settlement reached is contingent upon 8 Legged Productions' separate agreement with Marvel Entertainment to extend the musical's license to produce the show in other venues.

As BWW previously reported, Judge Katherine B. Forrest ruled at the end of August that both sides had 60 days to reach an agreement in the suit over the musical (which did not occur), or be forced to face a jury trial.

Taymor was fired from the project in March 2011 during Spider-Man's extensive preview run. She filed suit in November 2011 on copyright grounds. Taymor stated that the producers were bringing in a profit from her script and staging and that she was owed $1 million in royalties. The producers counter-sued on the grounds that Taymor had breached her contract by not agreeing to their re-haul plans for the musical during previews.

Sources told The New York Times that issues leading to the continued negotiations include Taymor's financial settlement, what kind of acknowledgement she will receive for her artistic contributions to the show, and the effects of a completed documentary by Jacob Cohl, son of Spider-Man's producer Michael Cohl, who began filming before Taymor began to butt heads with the producers.

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