Legal Question in Entertainment Law in California
liable for rescinding rights to a play
A friend of ours, ''A'' offered to let us put on his play and use the name of his company at a theatre festival. We entered the production in the festival, cast the show, did publicity, and raised money for the production (of which we have already spent $6000 in non-refundable down payments to the venue and accomodations for the actors.)
This week, one of our actors, ''B'', broke a commitment she had made with ''A'' to perform in another one of his productions. Without our consent, ''A'' sent an insulting email to the people involved in our production saying that although he was aware of the commitments we had made to the production (financial and otherwise) he was withdrawing the rights to his play.
Does ''A'' have the right to prevent us from performing his play?
Even if ''A'' doesn't have the right to prevent us, our actors no longer want to be involved in the production of his play (because of his behavior), and we don't want to perform the play without his permission.
Is ''A'' accountable for the money and effort we have already spent?
1 Answer from Attorneys
Re: liable for rescinding rights to a play
No, I don't think he has a right to cancel on you like that unless there is some kind of notice to you all that the other actors commitment was intertwined with this performance. He might be able to prevent the use of his name, property, etc. However, he is liable to you for your justifiable reliance on his promise.
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