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Artist News Business News Legal
Cyndi Lauper settles copyright dispute over Kinky Boots musical
By Chris Cooke | Published on Monday 12 August 2019
Cyndi Lauper has settled a copyright dispute in relation to the Broadway musical she co-wrote, that being ‘Kinky Boots’.
Lauper wrote both the music and the lyrics for the stage show, which first premiered in Chicago in 2012 before transferring to Broadway and, subsequently, London’s West End. In 2017 she was accused by pop singer Benny Mardones of ripping off his 1980 hit ‘Into The Night’ for the finale song in the musical.
She denied those claims, but that didn’t stop Mardones and his co-writer on ‘Into The Night’ – Robert Tepper – from going legal. They alleged that ‘Kinky Boots’ number ‘Raise You Up’ was “substantially similar” to their song, claiming – among other things – that it had “identical harmony, harmonic and rhythm progression, and emphasis of chords in the guitar and keyboard accompaniments”.
The lawsuit has been working its way through the system for two years now, at one point being shifted from the courts in California over to New York. But last week a legal rep for Mardones said that provisional settlement had now been reached.
According to Law360, attorney Michael Steger wrote in a court submission: “The parties have agreed on a settlement in principle of this case. We request that the court vacate all dates in this matter and allow the parties 30 days to consummate the settlement”.
Terms of the proposed settlement are not known.
