Attorney John Skeriotis Appears on WYKC Channel 3 News Segment to Discuss the Cleveland Ballet’s Use of Copyrighted Material

Emerson Thomson Bennett Attorney John Skeriotis recently appeared in a WYKC Channel 3 news segment, speaking about plagiarism in relation to the numerous ongoing accusations, including the use of copyrighted material, against several members of the Cleveland Ballet staff.

Both former co-founder Gladisa Guadalupe and former artistic director Cynthia Graham are accused of plagiarizing the choreography of another former artistic director of the ballet, Dennis Nahat — choreography that Nahat had registered with the United States Copyright Office.

In response to the alleged plagiarism of The Nutcracker, Attorney Skeriotis stated, “The Nutcracker, first of all, came from a book, and in the late 1800s, they developed it into a ballet. So, what we have to do is discern, like you said, what’s in the public domain and what isn’t.”

He goes on to explain, “George Balanchine [renowned choreographer and co-founder of the New York City Ballet], he came up [it], his first choreographed routine was The Nutcracker and he was awarded a copyright based upon his differences from the original work.”