The idea behind Music City Studios is to build on 47 acres facilities for content production, film, live touring rehearsals and broadcast. The project would include 200,000 square feet of sound stages and 500,000 square feet of additional space for tenants in the film, broadcast, music and media production industries, according to the announcement.
But the business partners behind a similar facility in Spring Hill are now arguing that Music City Studios is a copycat made possible by former business partners stealing their ideas and confidential information.
Worldwide Stages filed suit in Davidson County Chancery Court against the Music City Studios partners on Nov. 18. A judge has since granted the Spring Hill plaintiffs a restraining order barring the Hendersonville defendants from “using, disclosing, or otherwise misappropriating Plaintiff’s trade secrets and confidential information.” A hearing on the injunction is scheduled for Wednesday afternoon.
Worldwide Stages opened its 320,000-square foot facility in September. The group occupies the space formerly home to Saturn’s headquarters — a campus that the city of Spring Hill once eyed for several municipal functions but later sold for $9.2 million to the entertainment company. According to court filings, the Spring Hill facility has already hosted “the best-selling, multi-platinum female music group of all time to rehearse their first tour in over a decade.” The site has also hosted musicians performing at Bridgestone Arena in Nashville and showcases for record label executives, according to the filings.
In the lawsuit, Worldwide Stages alleges that David Buttrey, Brett Danahy and Josh Furlow — former Worldwide partners who are now behind the Music City Studios project — used their roles at Worldwide to gather information and later exploit it for their new business. The information that Worldwide accuses the Music City Studios officials of misappropriating includes plans and specifications for facilities, build-out timelines, financial projections, budgets and operating costs.
The plans for Music City Studios released to the press in October were “plainly derived from Worldwide Stages’ confidential, proprietary business plans,” the lawsuit alleges, adding that Music City Studios is a “copycat.”
Worldwide is seeking at least $100 million in the lawsuit.
The partners behind Music City Studios and their legal representatives did not respond to multiple requests for comment, and they have not fully responded to the litigation in court. In one filing seeking to squash the temporary restraining order, Music City Studios said Worldwide’s allegations were “wholly without merit.”
The judge decided to leave the temporary restraining order in place at least until the Wednesday hearing; however, the court agreed to cut out one part of the order, which prohibited Music City Studios representatives from communicating with any of Worldwide Stages’ vendors, investors or potential customers.
A Worldwide attorney declined to comment on the litigation.
