Success for Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber in “Memory” copyright claim
Russells are delighted to have secured victory for Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber in a claim brought against him and Sir Trevor Nunn in relation to the copyright in the song “Memory” from the musical production “Cats”. The claim has been struck out in its entirety by the High Court and was held to be “totally without merit”.
The Claimant, Mr Christian, allegedly wrote a song he called “Midnight”. He claimed that a recording of it was overheard by a dancer and later relayed to Lord Andrew Lloyd Webber who reproduced it when composing “Memory”. Passing judgment, Master Brightwell described the claim as “inherently incredible” and “entirely fanciful and entirely hopeless”. Upon the Claimant indicating that he may pursue similar claims against other well-known performers and songwriters, Master Brightwell noted that he intended to refer the matter to a High Court Judge to consider whether it was appropriate to make a civil restraint order against the Claimant.
The litigation was run by Alice Rudge, supervising partner Steven Tregear. The judgment has been reported in the press: