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UPDATE: ‘NCIS’ Creator “Gratified” To Reach Settlement With CBS

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday January 18, 2013 @ 10:17am PSTTags: CBS Studios, Donald Bellisario, Hollywood lawsuits, NCIS

UPDATE, 10:17 AM: Having reached a confidential settlement today in their multimillion-dollar lawsuit over profits from NCIS: LA, CBS and NCIS creator Don Bellisario released a joint statement Friday:

“We’re pleased to settle this lawsuit on amicable terms and put this dispute to rest,” said David Stapf, President, CBS Television Studios. “Although we differed in opinion on this matter, our admiration, appreciation and respect for Mr. Bellisario has never wavered throughout. We consider him one of the best creative talents of his time and a valued member of the CBS family, whose shows, both past and present, have played an important role in CBS’s success.” Don Bellisario added, “I am also pleased that we were able to amicably resolve the lawsuit short of a trial.  I am gratified that CBS has recognized my contributions in creating JAG and NCIS.”

PREVIOUSLY, 10:08 AM: CBS Studios and Don Bellisario have come to a settlement in the producer’s multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the network for profits from NCIS: Los Angeles, Deadline has confirmed. The parties were scheduled to go to trial January 25. No details of the deal are known. Despite having made more than $116 million from his CBS shows over the years, the JAG and NCIS creator sued CBS in April 2011 over breach of contract and the covenant of good faith for profits from NCIS: LA. The legal battle revolved around conflicting definitions of what constitutes a “spinoff,” what kind of spinoff NCIS: LA is and which one of the three agreements the producer had with the studio is the basis for the dispute. Bellisario was let go from NCIS in 2007 after star Mark Harmon threatened to quit. READ MORE »

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Universal, Paramount, Fox & Sony Slapped With Class Action Suits Over Home Video Royalties

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday January 16, 2013 @ 3:30pm PSTTags: Fox, Hollywood lawsuits, Paramount Pictures, Sony, Universal Pictures

Four Hollywood studios today had class action lawsuits filed against them that allege the short changing of home video royalties. If successful, the suits could result in a multi-million dollar windfall for the plaintiffs. In … Read More »

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Legendary Pictures Sues To Remove ‘Godzilla’ Producers

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday January 9, 2013 @ 5:03pm PSTTags: Godzilla, Hollywood lawsuits, Legendary Pictures

Legendary Pictures today filed suit (read it here) against producers Dan Lin, Roy Lee and Doug Davison to have them removed from the Godzilla reboot. The company also wants the court to order arbitration to stop … Read More »

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Nu Image Sues Overture Films For Potential Millions Over “Sparse” Accounting

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday December 18, 2012 @ 6:59pm PSTTags: Hollywood lawsuits, Nu Image, Overture Films

Nu Image today filed a lawsuit against shuttered Overture Films for what could be millions in unpaid proceeds from a trio of films. The films noted in the complaint (read it here) are 2010′s Brooklyn’s Finest, the 2008 Robert De Niro and Al Pacino movie Righteous Kill and 2008′s Mad Money starring Diane Keaton and Queen Latifah. Nu Image says that they and Brooklyn’s Finest Distribution inked deals with Overture for exclusive distribution rights for the films “in the United States and its territories for 20 years.” Noting that all three seemed to make good money theatrically and in home entertainment, the complaint alleges Breach of contract, the Implied Covenant of Good Faith and Fair Dealing, Accounting and Declaratory Relief. Nu Image says that they have consistently received “sparse and oblique” participation statements from Overture and their then affiliate Starz Media. “Plaintiffs are informed and believe, and there on allege, that Defendant received or will  receive  monies,  property  or  other  benefits in  connection exploitation of the Licensed Pictures, of which a percentage is due to Plaintiffs. Read More »

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Nick Cassavetes Sued Over ‘Yellow’ Movie Loan, Casting & Producer Promise

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday December 18, 2012 @ 5:25pm PSTTags: Hollywood lawsuits, Nick Cassavetes

Director Nick Cassavetes is being sued by two Canadian singers and their father for more than $500,000 over an alleged loan to the movie Yellow. In their complaint filed today (read it here) plaintiffs John Thomas and TwinSpin Music say that in September 2010, singers Carman and Camille Thomas met with the director in the Yellow production office in Studio City. However, they say the meeting took a wide turn with Cassavetes suggesting not just that the singers have a song on the soundtrack but roles in the movie and a producer credit for their father John. “However, there was one catch to Cassavetes’ pitch – namely, Cassavetes was in need of an immediate short term loan of $300,000 to be used for the development and production of the picture, which would be repaid with interest in the aggregate amount of $345,000 no later than October 15, 2010.  Accordingly, Cassavetes represented to “Carmen & Camille” that if TwinSpin would agree to provide the Loan, he would (a) cast “Carmen & Camille” in the speaking roles he had previously identified in the Picture, (b) feature at least one song by “Carmen & Camille” in the soundtrack of the Picture (the “Song”}, (c) provide plaintiff Thomas with a producer credit on the Picture, and (d) repay the Loan and interest in the aggregate amount of $345,000 no later than October 15, 2010,” claims the complaint.
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20th Century Fox TV Wins ‘Reba’ Producer Profits Case, Again

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday October 24, 2012 @ 7:32pm PDTTags: 20th Century Fox Televsion, Hollywood lawsuits, Reba

Former Reba creator and showrunner Allison Gibson has been denied her claim on profits from the sitcom’s second season for a second time. California’s Second District Court of Appeal reaffirmed a trial judge’s decision that 20th Century … Read More »

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Film Financier David Bergstein Can’t Sue Aramid Over Former Lawyer, Judge Rules

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday October 8, 2012 @ 11:12am PDTTags: Aramid Entertainment, David Bergstein, Hollywood lawsuits

In yet another legal setback for the producer and film financier, a judge has ruled that David Bergstein cannot sue the employers of his former lawyer Susan Tregub even if she did switch sides against him. “The fact that it is alleged that defendants aided and abetted Tregub does not change this into an action by a client against its attorney,” wrote Judge Michael Linfield (read ruling here) last Wednesday. As he has previously in other aspects of this case, Judge Linfield last week also agreed with Aramid that their interaction and discussions with Bergstein’s former in-house counsel were protected by litigation privilege. ”It’s a technical pleading issue, the case is not dismissed and we have no expectation that the case will be dismissed,” Bergstein lawyer Alex Weingarten told Deadline today. “We will file an amended complaint.” Bergstein has 30 days to file a newly amended complaint in the matter. While not unexpected due to a tentative decision the judge released earlier last week along the same lines, this is the latest in a series of twists in defendant Aramid Entertainment and plaintiff Bergstein’s various lawsuits related to the producer’s 2010 bankruptcy.

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Red Granite Pictures & Producer End ‘Wolf Of Wall Street’ Lawsuits

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday October 3, 2012 @ 3:34pm PDTTags: Alexandra Milchan, Hollywood lawsuits, Red Granite Pictures, The Wolf of Wall Street

The multiple legal disputes between producers over credit on the upcoming Martin Scorsese-directed The Wolf Of Wall Street are over. Red Granite Pictures and Alexandra Milchan issued the following statement today:

Los Angeles, CA – October 3, 2012 – It was announced today that Red Granite Pictures and Alexandra Milchan have settled their legal dispute over the much anticipated film “The Wolf of Wall Street” and dismissed their respective lawsuits against one another.
Red Granite Pictures owns the rights to Jordan Belfort’s best-selling memoir The Wolf of Wall Street, on which the film is based and is fully financing the film and producing with Appian Way, Sikelia Productions and EMJAG Productions.
Producers are Riza Aziz and Joey McFarland (Red Granite Pictures), Leonardo DiCaprio (Appian Way) and Martin Scorsese and Emma Koskoff (Sikelia Productions). Alexandra Milchan is an executive producer.
Red Granite’s foreign sales arm, Red Granite International, led by Danny Dimbort and Christian Mercuri, is handling international sales on the film.

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Paramount Handed Victory For Future ‘Godfather’ Films By Court; Puzo Estate’s Breach Of Contract Claim Still Alive

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday September 28, 2012 @ 7:36am PDTTags: Hollywood lawsuits, Mario Puzo, Paramount, The Godfather

The contract that the studio made with author Mario Puzo over The Godfather movies can’t be torn up by his estate, a New York judge ruled (read it here) Wednesday. That means Paramount, who released the original … Read More »

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Film Financier David Bergstein’s Suit Against Law Firms Dismissed

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday September 25, 2012 @ 4:10pm PDTTags: David Bergstein, Hollywood lawsuits

Producer and financier David Bergstein suffered a legal defeat today as a judge shut down his $100 million lawsuit against two law firms.  Bergstein claimed the firms — Stroock & Stroock & Lavan and Levene Neale Bender Yoo & Brill, who represent Aramid Entertainment’s David Molner and other creditors in their bankruptcy cases against him — gained confidential information about Bergstein and his companies from his former in-house counsel Susan Tregub while she was still working for him. Judge Michael Linfield agreed with the firms’ separate motions of privileged litigation activities and said they were simply doing their jobs for their client, Molner. This afternoon’s ruling was not unexpected: Last week, the judge released a tentative decision indicating his leaning in the case. Linfield added today that Bergstein’s actions were restricted by the one-year statute of limitations for legal malpractice. Bergstein’s lawyer Alex Weingarten said he plans to file an appeal. “I feel very confident we will win on appeal,” he said.

Related: David Bergstein Ends Miramax Lawsuit Read More »

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Movie Rights To Sammy Davis Jr.’s Life Center Of $35M Lawsuit

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday September 14, 2012 @ 6:35pm PDTTags: Appian Way, Hollywood lawsuits

Who owns the option to the Rat Packer’s life? It seems that Sammy’s daughter may have sold the rights to her father’s story to two different companies and now one of them is taking the other to court for $35 million plus other damages to be determined. In a 12-page civil complaint (read it here) self-filed today independent producer Rick Appling claims he owns the film rights to Davis’ life not Byron Allen and Entertainment Studios. Appling’s complaint alleges contractual interference on Allen’s part, making it almost impossible for the former to make a film about the performer. The producer says he secured a three-year option to the entertainer’s life for $10,000 from Tracy Davis on February 5, 2011, although the documents accompanying his complaint actually are dated February 7th. Appling wants a judicial declaration that he has those rights. Failing that Appling wants a determination of who does actually own the rights in a one-day jury trial. Tracy Davis is not named as a defendant in the complaint. Read More »

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Fox Intern ‘Black Swan’ Suit Eyes Expansion

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Monday August 13, 2012 @ 6:35pm PDTTags: Fox Entertainment Group, Fox Searchlight, Hollywood lawsuits, Interns

A hearing in Manhattan on August 24 could significantly enlarge the class action suit two Black Swan interns brought last year against Fox Searchlight. In an order made public today (read it here), Judge William Pauley III has agreed to a conference next week on Alex Footman and Eric Glatt’s request to amend their suit.  “Plaintiffs will seek to broaden the scope of the case to include all interns who participated in Fox Entertainment Group’s (‘FEG’s”) internship program,” wrote their lawyer Rachel Bien in an August 2 memo to the judge. The duo also want to separate the class of interns for their suit into “Corporate Interns,” those who worked through the FEG program, and “Production Interns,” those who worked on films that Fox Searchlight co-produced. To that end the amended suit will add two new plaintiffs, Eden Antalik and Kanene Gratts. The former worked through the FEG program and the latter worked on 2009’s (500) Days of Summer, a Searchlight co-produced film. The legal documents also state that “Ms. Gratts would seek to bring classwide claims under California’s Unfair Competition law for unpaid minimum wages on behalf of Production Interns who worked in California.
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Avi Lerner’s Nu Image Sued By ‘Cops’ Producers Over Unpaid Film Revenues

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday August 9, 2012 @ 6:03pm PDTTags: Avi Lerner, Hollywood lawsuits, Nu Image

The producers of Cops are taking the producers and distributors of Brooklyn’s Finest and Leaves Of Grass to court over money they say they are owed from the films. In an 11-page complaint filed today, (read it here) Langley Films, who make the long running police series, say Avi Lerner’s Nu Image, as well as Leaves of Grass Productions Inc. and Brooklyn’s Finest Distribution Inc., failed to honor an agreement to pay the company “a portion of the revenues” from both the 2010 comedy and the 2009 crime drama. The three companies are cited as defendants with Lerner, Nu Image/Millennium Films’ Trevor Short and former Nu Image/Millennium foreign sales chief Danny Dimbort named as principals who “may have engaged in a scheme to defraud Langley Films.” Millennium/Nu Image are the producers of, among other films, the upcoming The Expendables 2, Lee Daniels’ The Paperboy and the White House thriller Olympus Has Fallen directed by Antoine Fuqua who helmed Brooklyn’s Finest.

RELATED: Lawsuit Filed Over Stuntman’s Death During ‘Expendables 2′

Citing breach of contract and accounting, Langley says in 2008 it gave $3.65 million to pay some development and production costs on the Richard Gere and Don Cheadle-starring Brooklyn’s Finest and $1.5 million for the same for the Edward Norton and Susan Sarandon-starring Leaves of Glass. The complaint alleges that not only has it not received the promised revenue but also that the defendants partially reneged on an August 31, 2011 agreement to pay back the some of the money the Santa Monica-based independent producer had given them. Read More »

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No Decision On Nicollette Sheridan’s Retrial Request After Hearing

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday August 9, 2012 @ 11:23am PDTTags: ABC, Desperate Housewives, Disney, Hollywood lawsuits, Nicollette Sheridan

A retrial of Nicollette Sheridan’s wrongful termination suit against ABC Studios and ABC Entertainment  is not going to happen – yet.

At a hearing today, a three-judge Court of Appeal panel consisting of Norman Epstein, Thomas Willhite Jr and Nora Manella heard arguments from Sheridan’s and ABC’s lawyers. At the end of the arguments the judges said that they will take the matter of a retrial and the submitted briefs from the lawyers under consideration. A decision could take up to three months or more, rendering the previously set Sept. 10 start date for a retrial void.

Since the end of the original trial, ABC has argued for a dismissal of the case, insisting that Sheridan was not wrongfully terminated from Desperate Housewives. “All of the evidence shows that Ms. Sheridan was not terminated but her employment came to a natural end when her contract was not renewed,” defense lawyer Adam Levin of Mitchell Silberberg & Knupp, representing ABC Studios and ABC Entertainment, said today.

Sheridan was in court, accompanied by one of her lawyers, Mark Baute of Baute Crochetiere & Maloney. Judges Willhite and Manella repeatedly queried Baute about his client’s notion of termination. “Is it a termination when a contract is not renewed,” Manella asked. Baute responded by reiterating the alleged on-set head-hitting incident between Sheridan and Desperate Housewives creator Marc Cherry as the basis for what he called “Sheridan’s retaliatory firing for complaining about the incident.” Read More »

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MGM Settles ‘Raging Bull II’ Lawsuit With Movie Name Change

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday August 1, 2012 @ 3:30pm PDTTags: Hollywood lawsuits, MGM, Raging Bull II

It’s not a TKO but MGM is dropping its lawsuit against the producers of Raging Bull II. “The parties have amicably reached a resolution of their pending litigation, pursuant to which production of a … Read More »

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CBS Restraining Order Request Against ABC’s ‘Glass House’ Gets Friday Court Date

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday June 13, 2012 @ 2:55pm PDTTags: ABC, Big Brother, CBS, Glass House, Hollywood lawsuits

CBS is getting its day in court to get a temporary restraining order that would stop the June 18 premiere of ABC’s Glass House. Judge Gary Feess today set a hearing for first thing Friday morning for the … Read More »

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No Retrial For Nicollette Sheridan ‘Desperate Housewives’ Case, Appeals Court Rules

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday June 2, 2012 @ 7:21pm PDTTags: ABC, Desperate Housewives, Hollywood lawsuits, Marc Cherry, Nicollette Sheridan

The pending retrial of Nicollette Sheridan’s Desperate Housewives wrongful dismissal case has been put on ice by the California Court of Appeals. In a ruling issued Friday the court said, “it is further ordered that the retrial currently set for September … Read More »

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CAA & Fox Opt To Settle ‘White Collar’ Creator Lawsuit

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday May 18, 2012 @ 6:12pm PDTTags: CAA, Fox TV Studios, Hollywood lawsuits, Jeff Eastin, Lawsuit, USA Network, White Collar

The case of who created White Collar has ended in a private settlement. “The litigation has been resolved and is in the process of being dismissed,” is all plaintiff Travis Romero’s lawyer Rhett Francisco would tell Deadline … Read More »

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HFPA To Appeal Loss In Golden Globes Trial

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday May 15, 2012 @ 1:39am PDTTags: Dick Clark Productions, Golden Globes, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Hollywood lawsuits, NBC

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association is going back to court to appeal Dick Clark Productions’ recent victory in the battle over who owns the TV rights to the Golden Globes. In a court ordered Joint Status Report submitted … Read More »

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