‘Rain’ Won’t Let It Be

Beatles tribute band “Rain: A Tribute to the Beatles” is suing a show in London, claiming it is a copycat and fighting its migration to Broadway.

Rain Corp. filed suit against the entities behind “Let It Be” in federal court in Manhattan, claiming the defendants were former partners that took Rain’s popular musical review, made a British version of it, and opened it on London’s West End with plans to open it in New York this summer.

The suit, according to Courthouse News, claims the defendants adapted “Let It Be” from Rain by “combining its existing copyrighted material, including the book for ‘Rain – A Tribute,’ with, among other things, new artwork, set designs, and compilations and arrangements of songs that Rain Corp. created specifically for the London production in order to customize ‘Rain – A Tribute’ for the London theater market.”

Rain claims the defendants broke a partnership agreement made in 2009 when “Let It Be” opened last year without sharing revenues. Rain also claims that the defendants have sometimes removed Rain Corp.’s credit for the London version of the show from its marketing materials

Rain seeks statutory damages for copyright infringement, breach of contract and unfair competition, plus 50 percent of the London show’s revenue.