## Facts

- *Jesus Christ Superstar* was copyrighted in the United States as a “dramatico-musical composition,” and separate copyrights existed for several individual songs as “musical compositions.”
- The copyright owners assigned U.S. stage and dramatic presentation (“grand”) rights to The Robert Stigwood Group Limited.
- Betty Sperber and her entities (the Original American Touring Company and related management company) presented performances billed as concerts.
- Each performance used 20 of the opera’s 23 songs, sung in essentially the opera’s sequence (with one exception), plus three additional religious works.
- The performances lacked full theatrical staging (e.g., no complete costumes or scenery), but the selection and ordering of songs conveyed the opera’s storyline.
- Defendants held an ASCAP blanket license and argued it authorized nondramatic public performance of individual songs from the opera.
- Plaintiffs claimed the concerts were, in substance, unauthorized dramatic performances of the opera that infringed plaintiffs’ exclusive stage rights.
- The district court denied broad performance-based relief and issued only limited injunctive relief aimed mainly at advertising references to *Jesus Christ Superstar*.

## Issues

1. Whether defendants’ “concert” performances, presenting nearly the entire score in near-sequential order and conveying the opera’s narrative, constituted an unauthorized dramatico-musical performance infringing plaintiffs’ stage rights.
2. Whether an ASCAP blanket license for nondramatic performances of songs authorizes a presentation that effectively recreates a dramatico-musical work.
3. Whether the district court abused its discretion by limiting injunctive relief largely to advertising restrictions rather than enjoining the performances.

## Decision

- The Second Circuit held that defendants’ performances infringed plaintiffs’ dramatico-musical (stage) rights in *Jesus Christ Superstar*.
- The court ruled that ASCAP’s license covered only nondramatic performances of individual songs and did not authorize a performance that, taken as a whole, presented the opera’s dramatic continuity and story.
- The court reversed the district court’s narrow injunction and directed broader injunctive relief against the infringing performances, with related limits on advertising that suggested an authorized association or exploited the opera’s identity.

## Legal Principles

- Dramatic (grand) rights in operas and musical plays are distinct from nondramatic public performance (small) rights in individual songs.
- A performing-rights society’s blanket license for nondramatic performances does not permit performances that amount to a dramatic presentation of a dramatico-musical work.
- Courts assess infringement of dramatico-musical rights by examining the substance and overall effect of the performance, including whether song selection and sequence convey a unified dramatic story, not merely whether traditional staging elements are present.
- Labeling a show a “concert” and minimizing scenery or costumes does not avoid liability when the presentation substantially reproduces the work’s dramatic continuity.

## Conclusion

The Second Circuit concluded that presenting most of a rock opera’s songs in near-original sequence to convey its storyline is a dramatic performance requiring grand-rights authorization, and such a presentation is not saved by an ASCAP nondramatic license; broader injunctive relief was therefore warranted.


The Robert Stigwood Grp. Ltd. v. Sperber, 457 F.2d 50 (2d Cir. 1972)