Also as to reputation - You can see clearly how I was regarded even by Sondheim and his publishers just three months BEFORE Jack started.
From: Stephen Sondheim
To: Fred Landau
Sent: Thu, Nov 8, 2012 10:55 pm
Dear Fred Landau -
The person you should ask permission of is Sean Patrick Flahaven at Warner/Chappell. His email is, not surprisingly,
seanpatrick.flahaven@warnerchappell.com.
Your lyric is fun, although you had the same trouble with the last stanza that I did.
Yours,
Stephen Sondheim
From: Stephen Sondheim
To: FJL1960
Sent: Thu, May 7, 2009 1:24 pm
Dear Fred Landau -
My apologies for not having replied sooner, but I've been away. Anyhow, I think your parody is fizzy and funny and fine (except for the "prefer/defer" identity), so you have my permission to use it on YouTube, but first you have to get permission from John Breglio. I'm sending him a copy of this reply. If you haven't heard back form him within a week, let me know.
Stephen Sondheim
From: Flahaven, SeanPatrick
To: fjl1960
Sent: Tue, May 19, 2009 3:54 pm
Hi Fred,
Ah—I thought your name looked familiar. The different context and my sleep deprivation (our second son was born May 7; we also have a 2-year-old) made me forget temporarily.
Alli and I love Bill and Maureen, of course, and I do remember LAST STARFIGHTER.
I’ll try to get this done quickly.
Best,
Sean
From: Flahaven, SeanPatrick
To: fjl1960
Sent: Fri, Nov 5, 2010 2:52 pm
Hi Fred,
Sorry for the delay. Steve has approved leaving the ALNM clips up as well as the “Chrysanthemum Tea” request.
Thanks,
Sean
You can see how disparagingly and really just disdainfully I'm treated by Sondheim's lawyer now, actually claiming I am imagining the excellent working relationship with Sondheim and the publishers back when, and making believevthose were never pre-approved.
From: Rick Pappas <
pappasesq@earthlink.net>
To: Fred Landau <
fjl1960@aol.com>
Sent: Mon, Feb 10, 2020 3:58 pm
Dear Mr. Landau,
Apologies for not having responded to your emails sooner than today.
I did not have anything to do with any ‘copyright claim slapped on’ to your posts. Those would have come directly from the music publishers, who routinely police infringements of Mr. Sondheim’s works online.
I am unaware of any pre-approvals given to earlier videos by Sean Flahaven (who hasn’t worked at WarnerChappell for over two years) or Arminda Trevino (who also left two years ago) at Carlin America (which no longer exists). I can only say that none were ever presented to me by either company during the past 11 years that I have been involved in Mr. Sondheim’s matters, and they would have been submitted for authorization by both publishers in the ordinary course of events.
I have taken a look at the materials you submitted on January 22nd and do not believe they fall within the parody ‘fair use’ defense to copyright infringement under relevant case law.
Given the Broadway production of Company that is currently in rehearsal, in addition to the other revivals of Mr. Sondheim’s shows happening on Broadway and the West End in the coming year, we would prefer not to draw the spotlight away from them and so must respectfully decline your request to approve your arrangements and altered lyrics for performance and distribution on YouTube or other online channels, by CD or other recordings, or in any other media, and ask that you refrain from posting them as unauthorized infringements.
With best wishes,
Rick Pappas