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Paramount Slams Wall Street In Financing Lawsuit

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday June 7, 2013 @ 11:12am PDTTags: Content Partners, J.P. Morgan, Lawsuit, Paramount Pictures

Paramount Pictures claims that it was the victim of a fraud and conspiracy involving JP Morgan and it’s not going to take it anymore. “Paramount Pictures Corporation brings this Cross-Complaint against Content Partners LLC and its affiliate seeking redress for a years-long scheme by Content Partners and Wall Street investment bank JPMorgan Chase Bank, N.A. to defraud Paramount through an unlawful and secret assignment of rights in connection with 25 Paramount motion pictures,” says the cross complaint (read it here) filed Thursday in LA Superior Court in Santa Monica by the studio. “The cross-complaint seeks relief for a contrived attempt to frustrate Paramount’s rights and tarnish its reputation in relation to a series of film financing transactions, a Paramount spokesperson told me today.

Calling Content Partners as “the Hollywood equivalent of a patent troll,” the dense legal action this week comes in response to a $45 million breach of contract and fraud suit that the asset management group brought against Paramount in 2010 over profit participation on films such as Face/Off and The Truman Show. Content Partners claimed that the studio played fast and loose with paying out money it owed. The 2010 case had been winding its way through the courts and the discovery process. It was scheduled to go to trial later this month but delayed because the judge retired. Now Paramount has fired back and set a whole new legal saga in motion. The jury trial seeking complaint filed Thursday claims intentional interference with contractual relations, fraud, misappropriation of trade secrets, unfair business practices and civil conspiracy. Though mentioned throughout the complaint as being deeply involved in the alleged fraud and other claims, J.P. Morgan are not actually named as a defendant in this week’s filing. READ MORE »

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TiVo Shares Spike Following Settlement Of Patent Infringement Case With Motorola

By DAVID LIEBERMAN, Executive Editor | Thursday June 6, 2013 @ 12:40pm PDTTags: Lawsuit, Motorola, Time Warner, TiVo

No details on the terms yet, but TiVo stock closed +8.3% after the court in Texas where the trial was to begin on June 10 confirmed that the case has been settled. TiVo had alleged … Read More »

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Panavision Sued Over Unpaid Debt

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday June 5, 2013 @ 4:42pm PDTTags: Credit Suisse, Lawsuit, Panavision

Panavision needs to pay up what it owes, says a bank that is taking the camera supply company to court for $1.7 million. The money is the remainder of a two-part $335 million refinancing that Panavision worked out back in 2006 with Credit Suisse. Most of that debt was cancelled in 2010 in a further financing restructuring. Still, a bit was left over and has supposedly not been paid by Panavision since the debt matured at the end of March 2012. Late last month Wilmington Trust, National Association filed paperwork with the New York State Supreme Court seeking a summary judgment from the court to get the money back. Wilmington, the collateral agent for Credit Suisse, is claiming breach of contract and wants the $1.7 million plus interest, legal costs and “such other and further relief as this Court deems just and proper”. Read More »

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Alki David’s FilmOn Ending Streaming Networks In DC

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday May 28, 2013 @ 4:45pm PDTTags: Aereo, Alki David, Barry Diller, FilmOn, Lawsuit

Looks like the streaming of network TV is about to end in Washington DC. Less than a week after ABC, NBC and Fox filed a copyright infringement lawsuit in federal court in DC against Alki David‘s FilmOn and his Aereokiller service, the media industry provocateur says he’s pulling the broadcasters from his streaming service. “To avoid more inane lawsuits and one that is clearly rigged, we have decided to take down the Major Broadcasters in Washington DC and replace them with Independent stations. Something we are considering doing all across the country,” David said today in an open letter to broadcasters. David offers no date for when he will pull the networks from his service or any timeline. The lawsuit filed by the three networks on May 23 asked the court for an injunction to stop FilmOn and Aereokiller from being able to stream their local programming online. Read More »

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SAG-AFTRA Sued For Witholding Foreign Residuals And Rewarding Officials; UPDATE: Union Says “Without Merit”

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday May 25, 2013 @ 10:48am PDTTags: Big Deals TV, Ed Asner, Lawsuit, SAG AFTRA

SATURDAY UPDATE, 10:48 AM: The union says that it will “vigorously respond in the appropriate forum in due course” to the suit filed Friday by former SAG president Ed Asner and others over $110 million in undistributed residuals and royalties. Claiming that they are “proud” and “confident” in their foreign royalties program, SAG-AFTRA admit they haven’t actually seen the filing itself. Still, based on previous correspondence with the plaintiffs, the union calls the claims “completely without merit.” Read statement here:

We are very proud of, and confident in, our unclaimed residuals and foreign royalties programs which distribute millions of dollars to performers every year. The foreign royalties program has successfully distributed to performers more than $14 million — money that would otherwise go uncollected and be lost to them forever. The foreign royalties program was previously subject to a class action lawsuit that resulted in a resolution favorable to the union after intense scrutiny of the program. While we have not been provided with a copy of the current complaint, the claims as presented in the plaintiff’s earlier correspondence have been thoroughly reviewed and are completely without merit. We will vigorously respond in the appropriate forum in due course.

PREVIOUS FRIDAY PM: Actors Ed Asner, Clancy Brown, Dennis Hayden, and George Coe are among the 15 plaintiffs who filed suit today in federal court against SAG-AFTRA for not properly disbursing $110 million in foreign residuals they say have not been paid out. Asner is the former SAG president (1981-1985) who very publicly opposed the SAG-AFTRA merger along with other ex-union board members. The 52-page filing (read it here) also claims that the merged union has deliberately withheld information and kept the money in trust and spent portions on first class travel and lavish parties and big salaries for current union officials. “Plaintiffs have reason to believe that SAG-AFTRA has now amassed a substantial slush fund that does not belong to the labor organization but instead belongs to members and non-members, and/or their estates, on covered and uncovered works,” says Friday’s filing. Requesting a jury trial, the plaintiffs are seeking unspecified damages as well as injunctive relief and an order by the court that would stop the union from being able to collect overseas royalties. Instead, the suit proposes a separate “independent body” established to handle the funds in the future. Read More »

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UPDATE: UTA & ‘Scrubs’ Star Donald Faison Settle Unpaid Commissions Lawsuit

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Saturday May 11, 2013 @ 2:53pm PDTTags: Donald Faison, Lawsuit, UTA

UPDATE, 2:53 PM:  United Talent Agency and Donald Faison have settled their dispute over $73,000 in unpaid commissions. The former Scrubs actor supposedly had no idea that … Read More »

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UPDATE: Variety Media Adds Former Owners Reed Elsevier To Fraud Suit Seeking $10M In Damages

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday May 8, 2013 @ 5:09pm PDTTags: Beverly Hills Media Group, Lawsuit, Variety

UPDATE MAY 8: Variety Media today added Reed Elsevier and Reed Business Information to its kickbacks and fraud case against branding company Beverly Hills Media Group. “Plaintiff has suffered damages in an … Read More »

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Lifetime Wins ‘Chris Porco’ Appeal, Will Air Movie Saturday As Planned

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday March 21, 2013 @ 1:05pm PDTTags: Chris Porco, Lawsuit, Lifetime

Lifetime will be able to broadcast Romeo Killer: The Christopher Porco Story on Saturday as scheduled, a judge ruled today. NY Supreme Court Associate Justice Elizabeth Garry stayed all injunctive relief in a two-page order (read it here). The network had its emergency appeal granted after filling it Wednesday in the New York State Appellate Division, Third Department. The victory overturns the jailhouse injunction that another NY Supreme Court Judge, Robert Muller, granted Porco on Tuesday to prevent the depiction of his case airing this weekend. Porco claimed the TV movie was a violation of his rights to his image and name. Porco is currently serving 46 years to life in prison for killing his father and trying to kill his mother. Lifetime now intends to show a documentary Beyond The Headlines: The Real Romeo Killer after the movie Saturday. Read More »

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Keith Olbermann Slams Current TV Again In Latest Legal Move

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday March 8, 2013 @ 9:21pm PSTTags: Current TV, Keith Olbermann, Lawsuit

The ongoing sideshow that is Keith Olbermann and his employment woes just continues. Within days before a high level mediation meeting in San Francisco, the one-time TV host is now seeking a summary judgment in his $50 million lawsuit against Current TV (now being sold to Al Jazeera). In heavily redacted court documents (read them here) filed under seal in LA Superior Court on Thursday the former Countdown frontman wants an April 24 hearing to rule in his favor over his former employers. The documents filed this week are Olbermann’s evidence why the court should rule for him. While most of the document is blanked out, the introduction to the 25-page filing gives a pretty good sense of where the former talking head is coming from:

Current breached 16(a)(i) of the Agreement by making disparaging and derogatory statements in the public and to its staff about Mr. Olbermann and by disclosing confidential terms of the parties’ Agreement to the press. Current breached 2(a)(ii) of the Agreement by using Mr. Olbermann’s likeness in connection with advertising the Program properties, all without his prior approval. Current breached 5(c) by using Olbermann’s name, without his approval, in connection with a commercial for AT&T. Current breached 2(a) and 2(b)(ii) by denying Mr. Olbermann editorial control over “Program Specials” broadcast on Current, and breached 2(a)(i) by refusing Mr. Olbermann editorial control of the website when it denied his request to stream segments of Countdown over the Website. Current breached 13(d) of the agreement by improperly terminating Mr. Olbermann’s employment.

 

Olbermann and his lawyers are scheduled to meet with Current TV executives on March 12 at the offices of Antonio Piazza of Mediation Negotiations in San Francisco. Former Vice-President and Current co-founder Al Gore and Current president David Bohrman are expected to attend.

Related:
Al Jazeera Paid $500M For Current TV
Keith Olbermann Talks To David Letterman About His Current TV Gig: “I Screwed Up Big Time”
Read More »

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Disney Again Denied New ‘Who Wants To Be A Millionaire’ Trial

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Wednesday February 27, 2013 @ 4:28pm PSTTags: Disney, Lawsuit, Who Wants To Be A Millioanire

Unless they want to take it to the Supreme Court, it looks like Disney has run out of legal lifelines and will have to pay up in the $319 million Who Wants To Be A Millionaire case. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit on Tuesday unanimously rejected a petition by the company for a new trial against Millionaire creator Celador International, which in 2010 was awarded damages by a jury who agreed with the UK company that Disney breached the contract between Celador and it own TV divisions. “The panel votes to deny the petition for rehearing en banc…The full court has been advised of the petition for rehearing en banc and no judge has requested a vote on whether to rehear the matter en banc,” said the brief order (read it here) issued this week.

The unanimous vote and the fact no other judge on the court was interested in a vote on the case does not bode well for Disney overturning the multimillion-dollar July 2010 verdict against it further up the legal food chain. Read More »

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Weinstein Co & ‘Escape From Planet Earth’ Producers Settle $50M Lawsuit

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday February 26, 2013 @ 4:45pm PSTTags: Big Deals Film, Escape From Planet Earth, Lawsuit, The Weinstein Company

After almost two years, the $50 million Escape From Planet Earth lawsuit against the Weinstein Company is over. The distributor came to a settlement with plaintiffs Brian Inerfeld and Tony Leech on February 15, … Read More »

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Ken Burns Wins ‘Central Park Five’ Legal Battle With NYC

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday February 19, 2013 @ 4:59pm PSTTags: Central Park Five, Ken Burns, Lawsuit

New York City will not be able to look at footage and other material from Ken Burns’ The Central Park Five documentary, a federal judge ruled today. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald L. Ellis … Read More »

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HFPA & Former Publicist Michael Russell Settle Fraud Suit

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday February 19, 2013 @ 3:44pm PSTTags: Golden Globes, Hollywood Foreign Press Association, Lawsuit

The Hollywood Foreign Press Association and its former publicist Michael Russell have ended at least one portion of their on-going legal wars. The parties came to a settlement last week in Russell’s $2 million … Read More »

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Emmett/Furla Sued By Financier Over ‘Motor City’ Loan

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday February 14, 2013 @ 9:55am PSTTags: Emmett/Furla Films, Lawsuit, Motor City

A film financing company claims Emmett/Furla Films owes it over $2.6 million for a loan for the now shuttered Motor City and it wants the courts to ensure it can get the cash back. In its Petition for Provisional Relief Pending Arbitration (read it here) filed Wednesday, Row 1 Entertainment says that it provided a short-term bridge loan to EFF last July for $1,735,000. The money was intended for pre-production financing for Motor City and was supposed to be paid back on October 9, 2012. However, EFF suspended production on Motor City on September 1 because of scheduling and release date hassles. The Albert Hughes directed project has not been resurrected, star Gerard Butler is going after EFF for pay-or-play money and Row 1 says despite repeated efforts it hasn’t gotten its dough.

Related: ‘Motor City’ Stalls Before Reaching Start Line: Crew Sent Home
Read More »

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Oprah’s OWN Sued For Sex Discrimination By Former Executive

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday February 1, 2013 @ 6:44pm PSTTags: Lawsuit, Oprah Winfrey, OWN

OWN’s former senior director of Scheduling and Acquisitions today sued the Oprah Winfrey founded network for sex and disability discrimination. In her complaint (read it here) for unspecified but wide ranging damages, Carolyn Hommel is also … Read More »

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New Disney Class Action Overtime Suit Could Be Settled Soon, Says Lawyer

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday December 13, 2012 @ 5:48pm PSTTags: Lawsuit, Walt Disney Pictures

EXCLUSIVE: A former Senior Financial Analyst at Walt Disney Pictures today launched a class action suit against the company over overtime pay and Labor Code violations. However, this lawsuit (read it here), filed in LA Superior Court this afternoon, could all be over very soon according to one of the plaintiffs’ attorneys. “Although the lawsuit was filed today, the parties have reached a tentative agreement, subject to Court approval, to resolve the dispute without an admission of liability on the part of Disney. We will be seeking court approval of the Settlement in the near future,” Dennis Moss told Deadline today.  In the suit Katherine Clay, on behalf of 30 former and current employees of the company, seeks various levels of damages for each plaintiff class member up to $4000 depending how long they worked at Walt Disney Pictures. Read More »

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Former ‘X Factor’ Judge Cheryl Cole Sues Producers For $2.3M

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Friday December 7, 2012 @ 6:07pm PSTTags: Cheryl Cole, Lawsuit, The X Factor

Short-lived The X Factor judge Cheryl Cole today sued producers Blue Orbit Productions for more than $2.3 million. Even though she was dumped from the show before it debuted Stateside, Cole claims that she is owed the … Read More »

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Second ‘Expendables 2′ Lawsuit Filed Over Stunt Gone Wrong

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Thursday November 29, 2012 @ 5:35pm PSTTags: Lawsuit, Millennium Films, The Expendables 2

A stuntman injured during an explosion scene that left one man dead on The Expendables 2 today filed suit for damages against Millennium Films and others involved in the action movie’s production. Nuo Sun’s suit (read it here) says he was in a rubber boat on October 27, 2011 on Bulgaria’s Ognyanovo Reservoir during second unit filming on the sequel when “explosives and other similar ultra-hazardous activities” caused an unexpected explosion. “As a direct and proximate result of defendants’ negligence, carelessness and unlawful conduct, plaintiff was hurt and injured in plaintiffs health, strength and activity, sustaining severe shock and injury to and upon plaintiffs nervous system, neck, head, body, arms and legs, all of which injuries may be permanent and all of which injuries have caused and continue to cause plaintiff great mental, physical and nervous pain and suffering, for which plaintiff seeks general damages,” says the 12-page filing. This is not the first legal action to come from that stunt.

Related: Lawsuit Filed Over Stuntman’s Death During ‘Expendables 2′ Read More »

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Mark Burnett’s Former Partner Sued For $14M Over ‘Survivor’ Profits

By DOMINIC PATTEN | Tuesday November 27, 2012 @ 7:54pm PSTTags: Big Deals TV, Lawsuit, Mark Burnett

Layne Leslie Britton says that Mark Burnett’s former partner Conrad Riggs owes him more than $14 million from the profits from Survivor and other shows. In a complaint (read it here) filed today in LA Superior Court, the former CBS and NBC Business Affairs VP says Riggs has not paid him properly for the advice and consulting he provided to Burnett and Riggs when Survivor debuted on CBS in mid-2000. It was only during Rigg’s own $70 million litigation with Burnett, which was settled earlier this year, that Britton claims that he learned “what Riggs consistently told him for years amounted to little more than lies and deceit.” Rigg’s Cloudbreak Entertainment signed a formal agreement with Britton in October 2000, as Britton says he helped the relatively green producers through some of the tricky and costly waters of the network TV business. For this guidance, Riggs informed the mentoring Britton that he would pay him out of his deal to receive 10% of what Burnett made from Survivor or other projects. “Britton would receive 35% of what Riggs received pursuant to his contract with Burnett for all future cycles of Survivor and 40% of all other monies received from Burnett or his companies pursuant to Riggs’ contract with Burnett,” the complaint claims the two agreed.
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