http://www.azjournal.com/news/126/ARTICLE/5697/2010-06-16.html

Great article...

http://www.lvrj.com/news/46614567.html

"Some of it is bullshit -- where I pee in the sink, and the dirty underwear. I was probably the cleanest guy there," he says. "I don't even know how they come up with this kinda stuff.

And Steve Harley was the original Phantom... no, Colm Wilkinson! No, Michael Crawford...

;)

I don't care what anybody says -- April 4 was the anniversary, not May 5!

http://broadwayworld.com/article/Photo_Flash_JERSEY_BOYS_Las_Vegas_Celebrates_Its_One_Year_Anniversary_On_The_Strip_53_20090504

Some of the text is outdated boilerplate, but hey.

And I love the cake photos.

Both sides....
I have to agree with SOCAL-and believe me, I know. A lot of people on here aren't really that nice. And they said stuff to ME about how I posted things??...what's wrong with this picture??

LOL sometimes its pays to save everything, i come from a family of, ummmm....hoarders LOL

Hehe, I haven't actually seen it. I guess it's pretty good?? I was just telling my husband this morning I really should. I hope noone here feels like they need to defend Jersey Boys or any of the other band members, they honestly may not have known all of the facts about the book, and are completely in the dark about the whole thing. I mean when Tommy has a book that says "written by Tommy Devito", who can fault them. But that's what court systems are for, is to sort those things out. Rex was a successful attorney with a private practice, and was no dummy. He covered his bases and has plenty of documentation. And my mother, god love her, has never gotten rid of or lost a thing since the day she was born.

Your welcome for my post,
Strong words there I must say. I can't begin to imagine the pain that this has caused you and your family. In another way some people here are die-hard fans of Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, including them individually as people, also there are fans of the show Jersey Boys. I'm just speaking from a fans perspective myself for both The Four Seasons and Jersey Boys. I can see where people have gone on and on about this not knowing the full story. Also, to defend the people that they admire which is in no way wrong with that. Now when they take it out of context and start harassing someone they didn't even know, in your case your stepfather, is something else then the ball lands in your court as far as is see it. Quite amusing when I look back at this particular post and see what people came up with and what they believe just to be flat out wrong. The "know-it-alls" of the board are sure going to be amused by your comment. That is if they even respond!!
I'd like to ask you something but not at this message board, since its "public and all" here is my e-mail address: jflores88@gmail.com if you can repsond great but if not i truly understand, just wanted to ask you something in private.
Joey

Thanks for the caring reply to my post. I am in no way an expert in this case, although my mom talks to me about it quite a bit. I have no respect at all for Tommy Devito knowing what I know now, I was also around(although a pre-teen) when my parents went on trips to Las Vegas to meet with Tommy and the other band members, and how much Rex loved this band and how he loved writing this book. Imagine if you're favorite band came calling asking you to wright their autobiography, he was star-struck, and literally was his dying wish to have this book published. The fact that Tommy's lawyer tried to say that Rex was his scribe should be enough to see that Tommy's motives are pure greed and selfishness. Who hires an attorney to dictate an entire book too?? Honestly just hire a secretary. To respond to someone's post, the reason she hasn't gone ahead and published the book is because there is this whole matter of a copywright in Tommy's name, therefore she's waiting for that tiny matter to be ironed out in court first.

WOW!!! It's great to hear the other side of the story, just to fill you in, there are some very rude people here and judgmental at that!! If some people would have an open mind on here then they would be open to the fact that there are two sides to every story!! expect to hear back from those people as well! btw, would love to hear the status on this, i was thinking about it the other day!! best of luck to you and your family pursuing this matter.

The plaintiff in this case nhappens to be my mother and after reading most of these posts, I had to post a reply. The insensitive jokes about my step-father being dead and about my mother trying to "cash in" are really unnecessary. The fact that there are documented interviews with the plays writers saying they read the book are some of, but not all the evidence they have to prove their case, and 5 million is not how much he has made from the play as of now, but more how much he stands to earn. My mom has never been a money hungry person a day in her life, and the way Tommy Devito callously had the book copyrighted in his own name knowing my step-father was on his deathbed was absolutely deplorable. This book was the most important accomplishment to my step-father when he died. And honestly, reading these posts are a real lesson to me in being judgemental.

Now she's going after everyone behind the show. That's crazy.

There's now an amended complaint: http://ipandentertainmentlaw.wordpress.com/2008/08/15/jersey-boys-and-the-kitchen-sink-the-amended-complaint/

You know, Leanna, Sunshine, et al, I'm wondering about the present value of Tommy's stream of earnings being $10 million; this must include his heirs as well, given Tommy's age. I wonder how many years of "Jersey Boys" this considers, particularly given the circumstances that Frankie and Bob weren't forced to cut Tommy in at all, according to Frankie's recent Goldmine interview. And Sunshine, you note that after death, the heirs are only entitled to likenesses used in merchandising, etc. These links are terrific, Leanna--thanks.

Another summary, but this one from a Texas lawyer: http://www.law.com/jsp/article.jsp?id=1199441130231

Thanks Pam, and StubbleYou, please prepare to star in the music video. I plan to negotiate with Bobby Spencer to direct! (Des says he's too busy now!) Thanks buddy.

Lol, Howard -- great song up there!!

Howard,

You rock my friend, and always make us all proud!!

Pam

Earth Angel, Earth Angel...that's whom you adore. (Believe me, my feet are planted firmly on terra firma...although by noon they could be dog paddling if my creek keeps on rising!)
Howard...take pictures!

"It Never Rains in California" (to the tune by Albert Hammond)

Gonna board a Westbound 747
Know exactly what I really gotta do
Gonna chat with Steve and Christy Holden
But I'll know "Silence is Golden"
When I finally hook up with StubbleYou

Gonna meet the Stubble
As Fred Flintstone met Barney Rubble
On the Blog
Through all the Smog

It Never Rains in California
When we sing "My Eyes Adored Ya"
Yeah, it's "too good to be true"
Says StubbleYou

Thanks for the kind words, Mama. I'll do my best to make you proud when I meet StubbleYou.

Mamalucy, thanks for the San Luis Obispo mention. That's my college town!

"Archangel, archangel...the one I adore..."

Thanks, Mama. I'm sure I will.

Stubs...you obviously have never been north of San Luis Obispo! I just started building an ark.

Have fun with Howard next week...he's a class act!

Wattayutalkinabout, Mama L? It Never Rains in California.

Actually, I'm not a lawyer, but I did once take the LSAT. It was a whim I was exploring, and my idea was to go into intellectual property law if I pursued it. I've always liked reading about entertainment-related legal issues and how rights are sorted out. So I have learned a little bit about things like life story rights, just by reading about things that come up. Plus, the legal papers for this suit are mostly written in a very straightforward way. Anyone can read it and understand it, even us laypeople. I think the main claim she might be entitled to is to get her husband's name restored to the book and share in the profits from that, if it gets published. As for "Jersey Boys," it might be doubtful that she's entitled to a full half-share from Tommy, even if it's found they took copyrighted material as a basis for part of the play book. I'm not sure how much she could get, but who knows? Once a case is before a judge and especially a jury of laypeople, anything can happen. If the play authors used direct quotes from the book, the book author might be entitled to a share of the copyrighted material rights. Anytime a work is adapted, any quoted authors have a claim to some compensation for obtaining quotes or doing research that's used in another work.

However, there is also something known as "life story rights," which is a separate issue from buying the rights to use copyrighted material that has been written by an author (such as the book co-authored by Tommy and Rex Woodard, which is the issue being sued over). Tommy's share in JB might be either partly or largely based on the rights to his life story, no matter where the source of the facts came from. As a living person, he has a right to these rights, especially since "Jersey Boys" contains facts that are potentially damaging to his reputation and it refers to him by name. Nick Massi actually is not entitled to life rights, because you can portray dead people however you wish, no matter what their descendants might think about it (though they are entitled to any merchandising that bears his name or likeness). But Valli and Gaudio gave the Massi family a share, anyways. So it is confusing, and that will have to be sorted out, if it goes to trial. Here's a link to a page from an entertainment attorney about life story rights, which I found to clear up my own confusion on the subject. It is a litle bit complicated:

http://www.marklitwak.com/faq/life_story_rights.html

No Howard...what you want to say is, "Sunshine, on my shoulders makes me happy." I still think this is a case for Buzz!

Sorry...it's pouring in the Bay Area...even the sky knows our boys are gone. Sigh...

Sunshine, you seem to have a bit of a legal background here, where I have absolutely none, so I'm posting comments as a lay person. I do, however, work in collateralized lending, where we deal with UCC filings all the time, and the party that files the UCC first has the rights to the collateral--and it's often impossible to overturn a first filing unless it was fraudulent or signed under duress, etc. Also, wasn't the case about the Blackberry somewhat similar...where the party who developed it wasn't the one to promote it, but nonetheless filed first and received the patent, and was given the rights?

If the author himself were still alive and could be questioned and cross-examined, I think it would mean a lot more than his widow presenting some written "evidence" seventeen years later. Tommy could say that these letters were superseded by other written material that the widow may conveniently not have presented and that Tommy didn't retain after all these years, or that he had made other verbal agreements with Woodard prior to his passing. That may not be true, of course, but the author himself wouldn't be around to challenge it.

Interesting too, is that this is presented, as Des McAnuff's most recent play, "The Farnsworth Invention" is on Broadway.

I'm not a big fan of settling claims (although I know it's done all the time to save costs and time), because, as Jeannette indicated above, it does encourage other claims and people do come out of the woodwork.

These are just some thoughts from an accountant. Sunshine, please don't admonish me for not being legal savvy, but I'd welcome your comments. (And I promise I won't be Jonathan Edwards from the 1970's to say "Sunshine, go away today....")

Ummm...wow.

This
is
crazy.

I guess I'll have to say that I'm somewhat related to the production of this story. Lol, just kidding. It just seems very staged.

I'm having a hard time believing Tommy's share of JB is $10M. In Frankie's interview with Goldmine, he states that he went to Bob Gaudio and requested that Tommy and Nick Massi's family get a portion of the profits of JB because of their involvement as members of The Four Seasons. I don't think after paying off Tommy's debts, that Frankie & Bob are going to let him in on that much skin in the game.