The Tokyo District Court has rejected claims by stage director Tomoaki Kai that actress Anna Tsuchiya should compensate him for pulling out of a show.
Kai had demanded that Tsuchiya pay him ¥30 million in damages for failing to appear in his drama "Chikai: Kiseki no Singa" ("A Vow: A Miracle Singer") after showing up for a few rehearsals. The show was canceled in July 2013.
Judge Katsuya Hara of the Tokyo District Court ruled Monday that the script diverged from a book on which the show was based, but Kai had not shown the script to the book's author in advance, leading to copyright trouble. The book tells the true story of a female singer in a wheelchair.
Hara said that Tsuchiya, having learned of such circumstances, had lost confidence in Kai. He also said that even had Tsuchiya participated in rehearsals as originally scheduled, the show would have been likely canceled anyway because of the copyright issues with the book's author.
The court meanwhile acknowledged claims by Tsuchiya that a song Kai composed and uploaded on the YouTube video-sharing site hurt her dignity, ordering him to pay ¥330,000 in damages.
Kai told reporters after the ruling that the decision is unacceptable and that he will appeal.
