08 March 2000
Dear Mr Vibber
Re: Intellectual Property Rights Infringement in "Les Miserables" at http://www.hyperborea.org/les-mis/
It has come to our attention that you have posted the full libretto of "Les Miserables", in English, Spanish, and Danish at the above internet address and that you are displaying incomplete librettos for the following languages: original English (non-US), German, French, Dutch, Hungarian, Swedish, Norwegian, Chinese and Japanese and also lyrics from some songs by James Fenton that have not been used in any official "Les Miserables" libretto. Also you are using the "Les Miserables" and "Les Mis" trade marks and "Cosette" device (to which we also claim copyright (which you acknowledge)) without our authorisation. You are also encouraging others to infringe our rights including by having a section on your site encouraging the use of "Les Miserables" and its font.
We are the owners of the trade marks (both registered and unregistered) in "Les Miserables", "Les Mis" and the "Cosette" device and other intellectual property rights (including copyright) relating to Les Miserables ("Our Intellectual Property"), both in the USA and elsewhere. Other persons also have related music publishing and other rights in the text and score of Les Miserables. As such, copying and other actions prohibited by legislation require the consent of the appropriate right holder. We imagine you are aware of this as the "Legal Disclaimers" section of your website at the above address includes the statement "Lyrics have been presented here without permission".
Your use of Our Intellectual Property without our consent is an infringement of our intellectual property rights. This activity is unlawful, irrespective of whether such actions are for commercial or non-commercial purposes.
While we value your interest in our productions, to protect our intellectual property rights we must request that you promptly cease your infringing activities and in particular your use of Our Intellectual Property on your website and in respect of any other activities you are involved with.
We are reluctant to commence legal proceedings against genuine fans of Cameron Mackintosh Limited’s productions and understand that you may have been motivated by your enthusiasm for the show. Unfortunately, if you do not promptly take the actions outlined above, we will be forced to consider all of our options in conjunction with our US lawyers, which may include, (i) the sending of a formal "cease and desist letter" to you and/or your employer, and/or (ii) any other action (including legal proceedings) which our US lawyers advise. We hope this will not be necessary.
As the domain name "hyperborea.org" also appears to be hosted on your employer's website (SpeedGate Communications) we are sending a copy of this letter to them as well under separate cover.
This e-mail message is without prejudice to the interests of third parties in any infringing materials, who may wish to take action of their own. We will in any event inform our music publishers of your activities and it may well be that they, possibly in conjunction with us, will wish to take action in respect of their rights to the libretto. Also we expressly reserve all our rights in this matter including our rights as to damages, costs and any other equitable or legal relief.
While we do not wish to take such extreme measures against genuine fans of Cameron Please be assured that we do value the interest of our fans in our productions. However Details and information about Les Miserables is available from our official website at http://www.lesmis.com.
Should you require further information please contact Karen Whyte at <address removed>
Yours sincerely
Martin McCallum
Managing Director
For and on behalf of Cameron Mackintosh Overseas Limited
cc: Alan Wasser
Thom Mitchell
David Risley
Karen Whyte
Steve Tenenbaum