‘Grease’ creator Jim Jacobs has filed a $100 million lawsuit accusing several cruise ships of piracy suggesting that performances of “Grease” have been held without license or permission.
Mr Jacobs supported by Mr Ronald Taft his US attorney, explained to the New York Times that he, nor his collaborator Warren Casey who died in 1988 have never received royalties for the performance of hit songs including Grease Lightning’, ‘We go Together’ and the classic song ‘Summer Nights’.
According to the Musicians Union, this has extended to all function bands across the world and agencies and musicians have received emails from Mr Taft advising that performances of “Grease hits should either stop or pay royalties.
Adam Hughes, Managing Director for Last Minute Musicians was surprised when he received the email:
“I was told that at no-one could run a tribute band unless they have a deal in place for royalty collection. Nobody is allowed to perform any of the Grease material; I have been forced to notify all the relevant bands of the notice.”
Adam Hughes
Claire, from ‘Sing Out Sisters’ performs a variety of all singing, all dancing tribute and themed shows which up until recently included a Grease tribute show ‘Devoted to GreaZe’. They have spent years performing hits from the highly acclaimed musical.
She explained her frustration at the ‘cease or desist’ notice:
“Now that we are no longer able to perform our Grease tribute show in its entirety, we envisage we will potentially lose out on over 20% of your yearly bookings so we are in the process of creating a replacement show. We didn’t perform a full production of Grease as we only offer a duo or four-piece line up. What’s the harm of people booking an act like ours to enjoy themselves at a birthday party or hen night? We were told they didn’t want tribute acts muddying the name of Grease, but to go to these lengths is such a shame as everyone loves the songs and I think they’re taking the joy out of it as we are keeping the Grease name alive. This is our full time profession and we take pride in all our shows to maintain a high quality throughout. It’s extremely frustrating considering the amount of money lost and wasted.”
Claire, from ‘Sing Out Sisters’
The full list of songs no longer licensed by PRS for public performance:
- All Choked Up
- Alma Mater
- Alma Mater Parody
- Alone at a Drive-in Movie
- Beauty School Dropout
- Beauty School Dropout – Reprise
- Born to Hand Jive
- Freddy, My Love
- Grease-Background Music, Incidental Music and Cues
- Greased Lightnin’
- It’s Raining on Prom Night
- Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee
- Look at Me, I’m Sandra Dee – Reprise
- Mooning
- Rock ‘n’ Roll Party Queen
- Rydell Fight Song
- Shakin’ at the High School Hop
- Summer Nights
- There Are Worse Things I Could Do
- Those Magic Changes
- We Go Together
- We Go Together – Reprise
The Musicians Union has stressed that any unlicensed performances could trigger legal action and any queries should be directed at a local MU Regional Office for advice.
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