{"id":243645,"date":"2023-12-12T23:48:29","date_gmt":"2023-12-12T23:48:29","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/?p=243645"},"modified":"2023-12-12T23:48:29","modified_gmt":"2023-12-12T23:48:29","slug":"andrew-lloyd-webber-wins-high-court-copyright-dispute-over-song-memory-from-cats","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/lifestyle\/andrew-lloyd-webber-wins-high-court-copyright-dispute-over-song-memory-from-cats\/","title":{"rendered":"Andrew Lloyd Webber wins High court copyright dispute over song Memory from Cats"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/dynamic\/38\/590x\/secondary\/Show-cats-5112409.jpg?r=1702422333931\"><\/p>\n<p>Philip Christian, 68, said in the 1970s that he penned the words and melody that became the main theme from the hit 1981 show Cats.<\/p>\n<p>He alleged that a member of one of Lord Lloyd-Webber\u2019s other works overheard a recording of the song and\u00a0recited it to him ahead of the show\u2019s production.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Christian was suing Lord Lloyd-Webber and lyricist Sir Trevor Nunn for breach of copyright.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed he owns the rights to the \u201clyrics and musical score\u201d and demanded future royalty payments.<\/p>\n<p>But following a High Court hearing in London last week, judge Master James Brightwell threw out the \u201cfanciful and entirely hopeless\u201d claim.<\/p>\n<p>Rights to the song Memory were registered to Lord Lloyd-Webber and to Sir Trevor, who shares the copyright in the words with the family of poet TS Eliot, whose work Rhapsody on a Windy Night was the inspiration.<\/p>\n<p>Mr Christian told the court his own song was inspired by his experience arriving in the UK aged 11 from the Dominican Republic in the 1960s.<\/p>\n<p>He said he was training in performance arts when a recording of his song was heard by one of Lord Lloyd-Webber\u2019s dancers.<\/p>\n<p>He claimed it must have been \u201cmemorised and then recited\u201d in front of the star composer.<\/p>\n<p>Representing himself, Mr Christian said: \u201cI have always had that tune in my head. Every time I hear it on the radio, I get angrier.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Barrister Stephanie Wickenden, however, argued his copyright claim should be struck out.<\/p>\n<p>She said his argument the song was memorised then recited was \u201cnot a plausible allegation\u201d, adding: \u201cIf there were any merit to the claim, it would\u2019ve been brought 40 years ago.\u201d<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/g> <defs> <clipPath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"\/> <\/clipPath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Support fearless journalism<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/g> <defs> <clipPath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"\/> <\/clipPath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Read The Daily Express online, advert free<\/li>\n<li> <svg width=\"24\" height=\"24\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\"> <g clip-path=\"url(#clip0_1078_5986)\"> <\/g> <defs> <clipPath> <rect width=\"23.4329\" height=\"23.4329\" fill=\"white\" transform=\"translate(0 0.134262)\"\/> <\/clipPath> <\/defs> <\/svg> Get super-fast page loading<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" class=\"aligncenter\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.images.express.co.uk\/img\/logo\/logo-premium-subscription.png\"><\/p>\n<p>The judge said Mr Christian had failed to produce a copy of the song.<\/p>\n<p>He added: \u201cI find it inherently incredible that a dancer could, in the context of the entrance hall to a dance studio, have remembered word for word both the lyrics of the song and the melody and been able to communicate them at a later point.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>He granted summary judgment against Mr Christian.<\/p>\n<p>Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/www.express.co.uk\/entertainment\/theatre\/1844929\/andrew-lloyd-webber-high-court-copyright-dispute\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Read Full Article<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Philip Christian, 68, said in the 1970s that he penned the words and melody that became the main theme from the hit 1981 show Cats. He alleged that a member&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243644,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v21.8 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Andrew Lloyd Webber wins High court copyright dispute over song Memory from Cats - lovemainstream.com<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/lovemainstream.com\/lifestyle\/andrew-lloyd-webber-wins-high-court-copyright-dispute-over-song-memory-from-cats\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Andrew Lloyd Webber wins High court copyright dispute over song Memory from Cats - lovemainstream.com\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Philip Christian, 68, said in the 1970s that he penned the words and melody that became the main theme from the hit 1981 show Cats. 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