jersey-boys-four-seasons-copyright-lawsuit

The three surviving original members of the Four Seasons, from left, Tommy DeVito, Bob Gaudio and Frankie Valli, at the afterparty for the opening of "Jersey Boys" on Broadway in 2005.

(Paul Hawthorne/Getty Images)

Oh, what a fight!

The creators of the long-running and millions-minting Broadway hit "Jersey Boys," based on the Belleville-born band the Four Seasons, have been found liable for copyright infringement after appropriating material from an unpublished autobiography based on the scandalous recollections of original member Tommy DeVito, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

In an unusual copyright case nearly a decade in the making, Frankie Valli and Bob Gaudio, the two other surviving members of the Four Seasons, were also initially named in the lawsuit. They are credited with music and lyrics of "Jersey Boys," which is, after all, based on their own life story.

But they were earlier cleared of liability because they did not know the creators used material from DeVito's book, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

On Monday, a jury in Reno decided in favor of the widow of DeVito's ghostwriter Rex Woodard in her lawsuit against Rick Elice and Marshall Brickman, who wrote the book for the musical and Des McAnuff, who directed it and produced its world premiere at the La Jolla Playhouse in 2004.

The jury has not yet fixed on damages, but it did determine that 10 percent of the show's success could be attributed to the 1980s manuscript "Tommy DeVito -- Then and Now" -- which means plaintiff Donna Corbello could be entitled to millions of dollars.

"Jersey Boys," which closes on Broadway in January after an 11-year run, is also playing in London and is touring both the United States and the United Kingdom, and also spawned a 2014 film directed by Clint Eastwood. The Broadway production alone grossed nearly $1 million in the week ending Nov. 27. In March 2014, the producing partnership the Dodgers said "Jersey Boys" had passed $1.7 billion in worldwide grosses.

DeVito is not a producer of the musical, but did have a 1999 agreement with Valli and Gaudio to allow them to develop a musical based on the the Four Seasons. DeVito later shared the unpublished book with Brickman and Elice.

After the success of the show, Corbello, whose husband died of cancer in 1991 after failing to secure a publisher for DeVito's memoirs, learned that DeVito held the sole copyright on the unpublished manuscript. After successfully convincing the U.S. copyright office to add Woodard's name as a co-author, she sued the "Jersey Boys" producers for copyright infringement.

Nick Massi, the fourth Four Season, died of cancer in 2000.

Vicki Hyman may be reached at vhyman@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @vickihy or like her on Facebook. Find NJ.com/Entertainment on Facebook, and check out Remote Possibilities, the TV podcast from Vicki Hyman and co-host Erin Medley on iTunes, Stitcher or Spreaker, or listen below or here.

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