Top movie stuntmen sue over clip of Elton John kicking them in the face

Two famous film stuntmen have sued Sir Elton John for £200,000 after appearing in “unauthorised” action clips from his farewell tour stage show that showed the singer beating up villains in a ’70s furry costume and platform boots.

British stunt performers Theo Morton and Douglas Robson sued the Supreme Court over 18-second film clips used in the background of Sir Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road stage show, which they said “became the highest-grossing concert tour in history, with 330 live performances”.

The footage was shot from the 2017 film ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle’, in which Sir Elton had a well-received cameo role playing himself as one of a group of celebrities held captive by villain Poppy Adams.

As part of the film’s finale, the singer, wearing flamboyant seventies feathered stage attire, bests a series of henchmen; including knocking one out with an acrobatic flying kick while wearing platform boots.

Mr Morton and Mr Robson appeared in some of the clips used, but now say they were not allowed to be part of Sir Elton’s touring show and that no royalties were paid in respect of the “new use” of the footage.

Mr Morton, who worked on Game of Thrones and Dunkirk, and Mr Robson, who starred in Batman and Guardians of the Galaxy, blame the film company behind Kingsman – MARV Bespoke Productions Limited – which is owned by top British director Matthew Vaughn and his supermodel wife Claudia Schiffer.

The couple are suing the company, seeking £100,000 each for breach of contract, and an injunction to stop the clips being reused without their permission.

But the power couple’s company defends the claim, denying it did anything wrong or owes a penny to the two stuntmen.

The stuntmen’s lawyer, Jonathan Moss KC, stated his claims in documents submitted to the court as follows: “The plaintiffs are stunt performers who have appeared in numerous films, including the movie ‘Kingsman: The Golden Circle,’ which was released in 2017.

“The actors were commissioned by the film production company MARV Bespoke Productions Ltd, under contracts dated 29 June 2016 and 14 July 2016, to appear in the film, which will later be released as Kingsman: The Golden Circle.”

He goes on to claim that the contracts gave them the right to receive a percentage of royalties from the film, as well as money from any “new use” of the footage.

“His performance representing the rights of artists was provided and used in Elton John’s ‘Goodbye Yellow Brick Road’ stage show,” he said.

“This usage corresponded to 18 seconds of footage from the film featuring the stunts they performed and was shown on the screen behind Elton John during his performance.

“The show, which used this quote with the knowledge of the artists in all shows, became the highest-grossing concert tour in history with 330 live performances.

“Excerpts from the film, including the artist’s performances, were also published on iPlayer and Disney Plus, where the Farewell Yellow Brick Road show is broadcast.

“All such use of these images was carried out without the prior consent or knowledge of the artists. Therefore, its use constitutes a breach of contract between the artists and MARV.”

But the company’s attorney, Tom Cleaver, said in the company’s defense of the lawsuit that the stuntmen had already signed away their rights to the footage, adding that in any event, MARV played no role in licensing the use of the clips for use on the singer’s tour and did not make any money from their use.

The company transferred the rights to the film to another company, which in turn transferred them to 20th Century Fox. The company agreed to license “six clips totaling 18 seconds” from the film for use in conjunction with Sir Elton’s show in August 2018.

“The claim that ‘the artists’ performance expressing their rights’ was used in the show was rejected. The plaintiffs’ rights regarding their performances were transferred to the defendant, so that the clips in the film did not ‘contain’ any rights belonging to the plaintiffs.”

“The defendant is not responsible for the use of the clips in the series. He did not use the clips, did not arrange their use, and did not obtain any income from this use.

“In this case, he had no obligation to obtain prior consent for actions he did not take, nor was he under any obligation to pay for the proceeds of such actions to which he was not entitled and did not receive.

“The use of the clips in the series does not constitute a new use… The use of an excerpt from a film in a live show or a recording of that show is not a new and previously unknown form of exploitation.”

The case reached court for a brief pre-trial hearing last week, with Judge Melissa Clarke setting out the issues she must decide at the upcoming hearing.

He said the case depends on whether MARV authorized the use of the clips, whether the company had to pay the artist’s share or obtain permission, whether the clips amounted to a new use of the footage, and whether there was a breach of contract.

Explaining the artists’ case, Mr Moss told the judge: “Fox’s use of the clips amounted to a breach of contract by the defendant. The clips were shown by a musician in a context that had nothing to do with the films. This is an exemplary example of a novel use.”

But Mr Cleaver told the judge that the decision should be based on what the parties involved in the case meant at the time it was signed.

He also told the judge that “no fee was charged” for the use of the clips and therefore there was “no fee to be paid” to the stuntmen.

Mr Moss countered this, saying the contract stated that Marv must in any case “obtain consent and pay the performer commercially” for a “new use” of his performance.

The case will return to court for trial unless the parties leave court in advance.

Sir Elton’s Farewell Yellow Brick Road tour ran from 2018 to 2023; Kingsman: The Golden Circle premiered in 2017 and was directed by Matthew Vaughn.

The 55-year-old husband of supermodel Claudia Schiffer has produced films such as Lock, Stock and Two Smoking Barrels and Snatch, and directed Layer Cake, Stardust, Kick-Ass, X-Men: First Class and Argylle.

Vaughn also co-created the Kingsman comic book series, ultimately directing, producing and co-writing the films Kingsman: The Secret Service, Kingsman: The Golden Circle and The King’s Man.