Morton Stevens heirs sue CBS over Five-O theme

Morton Stevens (1929-1991)

Shoutout to Craig Henderson for bringing this to our attention.

The heirs of composer Morton Stevens have sued CBS over the theme to Hawaii Five-O, according to STORY IN THE HOLLYWOOD REPORTER.

Here’s an excerpt:

Stevens died in 1991, which, according to a complaint filed in California federal court, was about six years before the renewal copyright term for the Hawaii Five-0 theme commenced. That’s important because under copyright law, for works created before 1978, when an author dies before the original term of a copyright grant expires, rights revert to the heirs.

Notwithstanding this quirk of copyright law, CBS is said to have filed a renewal registration for the theme in 1997. The lawsuit says that CBS didn’t have the right to do this.

CBS was interested as early as 1997 in coming out with a new Five-O. That year, it commissioned a pilot where members of the original Five-O team teamed up with the current Five-O to investigate the shooting of Gov. Dan Williams (James MacArthur). The pilot didn’t result in a series and that production has never received a public airing. Clips have shown up on YouTube and the pilot included the Stevens theme.

In 2010, CBS came out with a rebooted Five-0 (now spelled with a zero instead of a capital O) with all-new versions of Steve McGarrett & Co. That show, now in its fifth season, also uses the Stevens theme. Stevens receives a credit in very tiny type in the end titles.

To read The Hollywood Reporter story, CLICK HERE.