Introduction
Julie Taymor, the writer and director of “Spider-Man: Turn Off the Dark” and Hello Entertainment, LLC are in court because of claims and counterclaims for breach of contract. Taymor argues that her full creative control of the Spiderman musical, specified in the contracts, was taken away by other writers. She is suing to have her $125,000 fee paid in full and for other damages. Hello Entertainment argues that “commercial impracticability” and “non-performance” from Taymor relieves the producers from their obligations. Hello Entertainment is filing counterclaims against Taymor for breaching the contract in not acting in “good faith” and “fair dealing” in her role as a collaborator.
Taymor’s Argument
Julie Taymor argues that she had lost full creative control in her work when Hello Entertainment started to make changes to her book without her approval, a supposed breach in their contract. Taymor had valid reason to believe that changes to her book would have to be approved by her. In paragraph 25, 26, 29, and 30of the Complaint, the facts stated that Glen Berger and the producers were making changes to the book without Taymor’s approval or involvement in communication. This is a violation under the Collaborator Agreement which states that Taymor would have approval over the book and story line. As a result, the producers would had have to contact Taymor for approval before any changes could be made. There is room for contention though because the agreement contains a clause where approval could be withheld for legitimate reasons. In Hello’s defense, Taymor’s behavior stated in the paragraph 8 of the Counterclaims would be reasonable enough to withhold her approval for changes.
However, the Collaborator Agreement does deal with the issue of Taymor’s full and final creative control. Taymor’s main argument would be from her ability to draw evidence of