This week, news spread about a parody play loosed based around a Canadian producer, DJ deadmau5, real name Joel Zimmerman, titled Deadmouse The Musical. The organizers made it very clear that the "Strobe" producer had nothing to do with the musical and had not endorsed the play and when reached about it on Twitter by a fan, he seemed rather indifferent about it. However, his tone seems to have quickly changed rather dramatically. With a change of heart, Zimmerman has decided to call upon his team of Hollywood lawyers to threaten a lawsuit to stop the musical from going forward less than a month from curtains opening.
Deadmau5 posted the cease and desist letter that was sent to the musical on his Twitter, which demanded the play to stop all operations within 24 hours of receiving the letter or else face legal action. The letter suggested that although "the Infringing event may be paying tribute to him in this regard, he cannot allow the use of the mark 'Deadmouse' (Or any other mark associated with Zimmerman) as such use capitalized on the goodwill and reputation of Zimmerman's extremely popular marks, name, and personality for commercial gain, and will no doubt create a likelihood of confusion with our client...." The matter seemed to have settled quickly though, as a short while later, deadmau5 announced on Twitter that the matter had been settled and the musical was now officially being titled a parody so it could stay open
The musical, which features Joel Zimmermouse, a mouse who aspires to be a house DJ, but faces discrimination as he follows his dream of being a house DJ. He must move past the prejudice of DJ Avicheese and his running mate David Gouda as well as love interest Cat. The musical describes itself as "Book Of Mormon meets Ratatouille" and luckily will be able to run in less than a month from July 3 to July 11 for the Toronto Fringe. See the saga unfold on the deadmau5 Twitter postings below.
how not to be creative. pic.twitter.com/FEVtcu8vFo
— deadmau5 (@deadmau5) June 17, 2015
... cont'd ... and thats why its always best to approach people beforehand. *shrug* pic.twitter.com/HrMz5z1dSG — deadmau5 (@deadmau5) June 17, 2015
while i appreciate their intent, they REALLY went about this the wrong way and dont fully understand how this diminishes certain endeavours
— deadmau5 (@deadmau5) June 17, 2015
There. The dead mouse musical debacle is settled. They have just put up a disclaimer and called it a parody. Moving along now. — deadmau5 (@deadmau5) June 18, 2015
