Unlicensed ‘Making a Murderer’ Musical to Premiere at Edinburgh Fringe, Netflix Not Involved

variety.com:

K.J. Yossman An unlicensed “Making a Murderer” musical is set to have its world premiere at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in Scotland next month – without Netflix’s involvement.“Making a Murderer: The Musical” is based on the story of Steven Avery, who is also the subject of Netflix docuseries “Making a Murderer.” The musical is written by BAFTA-winning writer Phil Mealey (“The Royle Family”), who admits he was inspired by the Netflix documentary.“When I watched the documentary, like many others I was outraged at the way the system seemed stacked against Steven and his nephew Brendan,” said Mealey. “As a writer I saw so many astonishing twists and turns and intriguing characters that if this were written as an original story no-one would believe it was plausible.” “Our intention is to highlight and parody the inconsistencies in the case where people with power have not used that power fairly or effectively.

Compassion and empathy must extend to all those who are victims of a flawed system so that they receive the justice that they truly deserve.”A Netflix source confirmed to Variety the streamer is not affiliated with the musical.

Netflix did not respond to Variety‘s query as to whether it is considering taking legal action.Titles are not copyrightable although they can be trademarked.

However searches of the U.S., U.K. and European trade marks databases did not return any results for the title “Making a Murderer.”“The production of ‘Making a Murderer: The Musical’ is not based on the Netflix documentary of the same name but is based on the real-life events that took place during the trials of Steven Avery and Brendan Dassey,” said a spokesperson for the stage show. “The writers have taken public material as a basis for.