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Producers of Tony Award-winnng play Stereophonic have settled an October lawsuit alleging infringement.
In October, Kenneth Caillat and Steven Stiefel, co-authors of the memoir Making Rumours: The Inside Story of the Classic Fleetwood Mac Album, filed a lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York against playwright David Adjmi, along with the producers of Stereophonic, claiming that the Tony Award-winning play is an unauthorized adaptation of their ed memoir.
A joint motion filed today in United States Southern District Court of New York, indicates that the two sides have resolved the dispute “in principle”. A finalized written settlement is to be presented before the end of the month.
According to the lawsuit, Stereophonic has grossed over $20 million since opening in April 2024 and was promoted as “The Most Tony-Nominated Play of All Time,” winning five Tony Awards, including Best Play. The plaintiffs alleged that the show’s success was built on material taken from their memoir without permission, asserting that Stereophonic is “substantially similar” to Making Rumours.
The lawsuit stated that Making Rumours provides a detailed account of Caillat’s time as a sound engineer and co-producer during the creation of Fleetwood Mac’s Grammy-winning Rumours album. The plaintiffs alleged that Stereophonic copies “the heart and soul” of their memoir, with the set designed to replicate a recording studio from the perspective of a sound engineer, mirroring Caillat’s experience as described in the book. The complaint asserts, “The set of Stereophonic essentially places the audience in the very chair where Mr. Caillat sat as he engineered and produced Fleetwood Mac’s Rumours.”
The lawsuit also highlights similarities in the story arcs, claiming that both the book and the play depict key events in the same sequence and from the same viewpoint. The plaintiffs allege that Stereophonic follows a “nearly identical story arc” to what Caillat referred to in his memoir as “Ken’s Wild Ride,” further arguing that Stereophonic characters mirror members of Fleetwood Mac.
Adjmi denied the allegations, publicly stating that Stereophonic is his “own invention” and that it was inspired by his experiences and imagination. He claims that while the play is set in a recording studio, it is not based on Making Rumours. The lawsuit, however, asserts that Adjmi has admitted to reading the book, calling it “an excellent book,” but maintains that any similarities are unintentional.
The plaintiffs sought damages for infringement, including profits earned from the production, as well as an injunction to stop further performances of Stereophonic. They argued that the production has harmed their ability to create their own adaptations of the memoir, including a film version, stating, “Stereophonic is harming the downstream market for adaptations of Making Rumours.”
Caillat and Stiefel’s legal team noted in the complaint the gravity of the alleged infringement, stating that “the substantial similarities between Stereophonic and Making Rumours are undeniable.”
The lawsuit is ongoing, and the defendants have yet to respond to the claims in court. A representative for the production wasn’t immediately available to comment on the allegations in the lawsuit.
Stereophonic mines the agony and the ecstasy of creation as it zooms in on a music studio in 1976, where an up-and-coming rock band finds itself on the cusp of superstardom. Written by David Adjmi, directed by Daniel Aukin, and featuring original music by Arcade Fire’s Will Butler, this electrifying new play takes audiences inside the powder keg process of a band on the brink of blowing up.
