Hamiltonon Broadway.Photo: Smith Collection/Gado/Getty
The Door Christian Fellowship Ministries located in McAllen, Texas, hosted performances ofHamiltonon Friday and Saturday but edited some language and added religious lines and a concluding sermon, according toCNNandUSA Today.
Brown says on Saturday they “were made aware of the unauthorized staging ofHamilton” that happened Friday. At that point, “We issued a cease-and-desist letter for the unauthorized use ofHamilton’s intellectual property, demanding the immediate removal of all videos and images from previous productions from the internet, including YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, their own website and elsewhere.”
Once they got a response from the church, theHamiltonteam told The Door they could “proceed” with the already-scheduled Saturday show “on the conditions that it was not live-streamed or recorded; no photos or videos of the performance be posted; they not mount any further productions; this limited permission was without prejudice, and we reserved all rights and remedies; and we would be discussing this matter with the parties behind this unauthorized production within the coming days once all facts are properly vetted.”
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On its Facebook page, The Door describes itself as a “Bible-based, Spirit-filled, nondenominational family of believers.”
According to Brown, “TheHamiltonfamily stands for tolerance, compassion, inclusivity and certainly LGBTQ+ rights. We are in the process of reviewing the unauthorized changes made to the script to determine further action. We would like to thank our devoted fans for bringing this to our attention.”
A spokesperson for The Door did not immediately respond to PEOPLE’s request for comment.
Pastor Roman Gutierrez toldThe Dallas Morning Newsin a statement that The Door is not anti-LGBTQ and “everyone is always welcome.”
The New York Timesnoted that U.S. copyright laws allow for churches to use copyrighted music during its religious services, but not necessarily to republish it online or hold performances.
source: people.com
