With the 40th Anniversary of one of rock’s most enduring bands just around the corner, a production company looking to join the celebrations with a full-length biopic have been shutdown of the proverbial invite to the party.
The appropriately named High Voltage Productions has been working on a cinematic tribute to fallen AC/DC singer Bon Scott since last year, focusing on the integral six years of the frontman from his introduction to the Aussie pub rockers (replacing original vocalist Dave Evans) through the band’s rise to infamy and his untimely death in 1980.
The titular starring role of Bon Scott: The Legend of AC/DC is played by Rob Liotti, an American who wrote the film’s screenplay and also happens to have portrayed Bon Scott for a number of years anywho, in his tribute band TNT, but both Liotti and the South Carolina-based High Voltage Productions have come under legal attack from the very band their labour of love is dedicated to.
According to a press release from High Voltage Productions, “It has been learned that New York City attorneys for AC/DC, its production company, Albert Productions Pty., and its branding company, along with solicitors out of Sydney, Australia representing the Estate of Bon Scott, have both threatened legal action against the producers should the project move forward.” “The fact is that [this] is a movie about Bon Scott, not AC/DC in and of themselves. The band, while certainly relevant, is incidental…”
AC/DC’s legal hounds have sent High Voltage Productions cease and desist notices to attempt to block the film from production and eventual release, “and both firms have made rather overreaching demands against the company that would seem to completely discount and ignore something called the First Amendment, in the opinion of the company,” reads the press statement from the Bon Scott biopic makers.
The genesis for the legal action stems from the film reaching the attention of NBC Universal in London, who “had the project in their hands and were giving serious consideration to an acquisition deal for international television distribution,” but once they made enquiries to AC/DC about licensing for music, “the band’s legal team immediately took the prospect of the film actually coming to fruition very seriously and initiated what appears to be a campaign against the filmmakers,” notes High Voltage Productions.
The American production company says they never anticipated getting official licensing from AC/DC, but had contacted the band’s long-time production company, Albert Productions, in Australia before developing the film to “respectfully inform Malcolm Young and Alberts of our plans and to faithfully request the opportunity to license their music for such and important project,” but their correspondence was left unanswered.
Progress on the roughly US$5 million project has been tracked over at the Bon Scott: The Legend of AC/DC blog, but went quiet earlier in the year as director J.R. Getches knuckled down on production, including shooting a test trailer of Rob Liotti portraying the legendary vocalist.
(Rob Liotti portraying Bon Scott. Image: High Voltage Productions. Source: http://thebonscottmovie.blogspot.com.au/)
“[He’s] the right guy for the role. Plus the story is all there,” says the production team’s representatives. “While bogging us down with legal paperwork may delay the project, there is absolutely nothing defamatory or damaging to AC/DC or Bon Scott’s Estate about telling a true story, nor does it infringe on their privacy or brand plate.”
High Voltage Productions claims they are “simply attempting to fill an artistic void,” alleging that legal advice from Stanford University Law School saw “no infringement whatsoever” in the film’s content under the “fair use” defence, aside from advising the docudrama’s title should include the term ‘unauthorised’; a change officially made in October.
“How many unauthorised biographies and documentaries have been made about everyone from Marilyn Monroe to Jimi Hendrix? Filmmakers have a right to tell a story without tortious interference,” adds the High Voltage team. “The fact is that Bon Scott: The Legend of AC/DC Unathorised is a movie about Bon Scott, not AC/DC in and of themselves. The band, while certainly relevant, is incidental to the whole of the story, as is their music.”
The American film company also takes a sly dig at AC/DC’s current fortunes, pointing out that “AC/DC has always been about ‘sticking it to The Man’ as is heard ad nauseum in their lyrics… Yet in 2013, it appears that they may have actually become ‘The Man’ whilst aligning themselves with fiscal giants like WalMart, iTunes, the Iron Man franchise, etc. To fans, this departure may be troubling.”
