Billy Joel Tolak Mentah-mentah Film Biopik Billy & Me, Sebut Proyek Ilegal dan Menyesatkan

JAKARTA - The plan to make the latest biopic film that tells the story of Billy Joel's youth, titled "Billy & Me", immediately received a strong rejection.

The film project directed by John Ottman was considered to have no valid legal basis because it was produced without official permission from the singer and the copyright holder of his work.

The film "Billy & Me" was originally designed to explore the early career journey of the musician nicknamed The Piano Man, before he achieved global popularity in the 1970s.

The film's storyline is based on the point of view of Irwin Mazur, Billy Joel's first manager who discovered the singer's talent in 1966 and accompanied him until he managed to break through a major recording contract with Columbia Records in 1972.

In addition to Mazur, the production also involved Joel's childhood friend and drummer, Jon Small, as a consultant and executive producer.

Through his official representative, Billy Joel emphatically stated that he would not be involved and prohibited the use of his music catalog in any form for the film's interests. The Joel party confirmed that the official reprimand had actually been sent to the production team several years ago.

"Since 2021, the parties involved have been officially informed that they have no rights to Billy Joel's life story and will not be able to obtain the necessary music copyrights for this project," said a representative of Billy Joel, quoted by Variety, Thursday, May 21.

"Billy Joel does not authorize or support this project in any capacity, and any attempt to continue it is a misleading act, both legally and professionally," he continued.

On the other hand, producer Adam Ripp immediately defended the controversy regarding the legality of this. According to him, the "Billy & Me" narrative does not focus on a comprehensive biography of Billy Joel, but rather a memoir that is purely sourced from the real experiences of Irwin Mazur and Jon Small when they were still active in their early band group, The Hassles and Attila.

Ripp argued that his party had a valid legal right to adapt the life stories of Mazur and Small to the big screen. The songs that will be featured are claimed to be nothing more than closing songs that were performed by the music group at the time, not the original songs created by Billy Joel.

"This project has obtained exclusive rights to the life story of Irwin Mazur, as well as the life story rights of Jon Small. Therefore, labeling 'Billy & Me' as a project that is 'legally and professionally misleading' does not accurately reflect the essence of this project nor the legitimate legal rights behind its production," said Adam Ripp.

Despite being rejected by Billy Joel, the production team is reportedly still continuing with the agenda of finding actors. The filming process for the film "Billy & Me" is scheduled to begin rolling in the fall, taking place in Winnipeg, Canada, as well as New York, USA.