Stereophonic

David Adjmi's new drama Stereophonic, now playing at the Golden Theatre on Broadway, bears more than a few resemblances to Jez Butterworth's The Hills of California.

Both plays show musical artists in the 1970s struggling with the choices that brought them fame as well as heartache. Both show talented Brits bumping up against a music industry controlled by Americans. Both present us with characters making... questionable sexual choices.

However, it isn't Stereophonic's resemblances to Butterworth's play (which are probably coincidental) which have gotten Adjmi in trouble. Rather, the show's producers got sued by former Fleetwood Mac producer Ken Caillat (and his co-author Steven Stiefel), who wrote a 2012 memoir called Making Rumours about the origin of the rock band's most celebrated album.

Is the fictional band onstage a thinly veiled version of Fleetwood Mac? When I went to see the show last night, many of the people in the audience seemed to think so. I overheard a couple discussing which Rumours songs were paralleled by original music composed by Arcade Fire member Will Butler for the stage production. The audience also went into hysterics when a character onstage said he didn't want to be spreading rumors.

This isn't the first time Adjmi has gotten into a copyright tussle. He was also sued over his play 3C, which reimagined the sitcom Three's Company in order to deal seriously with social and political issues that emerged during the 1970s. In that case, most dramatists were on Adjmi's side. The piece was truly transformative, and should have been protected by the same fair use rules that allow satire and parody.

Fortunately, Stereophonic's producers came to an agreement to resolve the lawsuit earlier this week, so if you see it on Broadway now, you'll know it's no longer under legal threat!