An article in the Guardian reports on the first cast of Les Miserables seeking legal advice after they discovered a contract limiting royalty payments from the original cast album to 25 years.
The actors claim to have been unaware of a clause in their recording contract stating that they were only eligible for royalty payments for 25 years. The production celebrated its quarter-century last year with a series of special events including a one-off concert at the O2.
Equity is seeking legal advice on behalf of its members, but First Night Records, the company behind the recording, insists that it is simply abiding by the terms of the contract, which the performers’ union had agreed.
Some of the original actors, including Peter Polycarpou, frances Ruffelle and Michael Ball have spoken out about their displeasure on Twitter and in the papers.
John Craig, managing director of the record company, said, “The beef that the players have should be with Equity and not with us…Their union signed a silly contract.”
“I feel quite bitter that Equity sign a contract and then moan like crazy when we stand behind the terms of it,” he continued.
But Equity’s assistant general secretary Martin Brown argued that changes to the length of copyright mean that the contract, which was based on a template agreed in the 1960s, is now too outdated to stand. “First Night Records are trying to use that nearly 50-year-old contract to terminate payments at 25 years, even though the legal copyright is now much longer.”
Les Miserables is the world’s longest running musical, premiering in 1985 and has been seen in 41 countries by over 55 million people.