Disney, others penalized $15 mil in Calif. lawsuit
By Doug Young
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles jury Wednesday awarded $14.9 million to a talent agency that sued the Walt Disney Co. for underpayment of commissions for the television show "Home Improvement."
The jury found 11-1 in favor of the Agency for the Performing Arts after two days of deliberations, following a two-week trial.
"We are absolutely elated," Larry Feldman, the lawyer for the plaintiff, told Reuters. "This case was brought over a matter of principle, and justice prevailed."
A Disney spokeswoman said the company believes there were "solid grounds for appeal."
"We are disappointed by the verdict, particularly since we had prevailed on the vast majority of the claims in this case," she said. "We believed that we had satisfied our obligation to APA. However the jury disagreed with our interpretation of the definition of base license fee."
APA sued Disney for breach of contract in 1997, alleging the underpayment of about $14.8 million in commissions.
Others named at the proceeding to share in the liability include "Home Improvement" stars Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson, producers Elliott Schoenman and Bruce Ferber, director John Pasquin and Wind Dancer, which produced the show.
APA was talent agent for Matt Williams, creator of "Home Improvement," which was a major hit for Disney and ABC in the 1990s.
The show began airing on ABC before Disney purchased the network in 1997 for $19 billion.
Williams previously wrote for "The Cosby Show" and was an executive producer for "Roseanne." As his talent agent, APA received a commission for bringing him to Disney to create "Home Improvement," a family sitcom that aired on ABC from 1991 to 1999.
Under the contract between Disney and ABC, Disney made the show and received a "base license fee" from the network for each episode. In turn, Disney was supposed to give a fixed percentage of the fee to APA as commission, Feldman said.
Under the agreement between Disney and ABC, the original license fee was $410,000 in the show's first year, and was meant to climb by 4 percent every year afterward, Feldman said.
But when the show became a hit, the license fee grew at a much faster rate until ABC was paying $3 million per episode by its final season, he said.
But while the license fee grew at a much faster rate than originally stated, Disney continued to pay APA its commissions as if the license fee were growing by 4 percent each year, Feldman said.
07/24/02 20:22 ET
By Doug Young
LOS ANGELES (Reuters) - A Los Angeles jury Wednesday awarded $14.9 million to a talent agency that sued the Walt Disney Co. for underpayment of commissions for the television show "Home Improvement."
The jury found 11-1 in favor of the Agency for the Performing Arts after two days of deliberations, following a two-week trial.
"We are absolutely elated," Larry Feldman, the lawyer for the plaintiff, told Reuters. "This case was brought over a matter of principle, and justice prevailed."
A Disney spokeswoman said the company believes there were "solid grounds for appeal."
"We are disappointed by the verdict, particularly since we had prevailed on the vast majority of the claims in this case," she said. "We believed that we had satisfied our obligation to APA. However the jury disagreed with our interpretation of the definition of base license fee."
APA sued Disney for breach of contract in 1997, alleging the underpayment of about $14.8 million in commissions.
Others named at the proceeding to share in the liability include "Home Improvement" stars Tim Allen and Patricia Richardson, producers Elliott Schoenman and Bruce Ferber, director John Pasquin and Wind Dancer, which produced the show.
APA was talent agent for Matt Williams, creator of "Home Improvement," which was a major hit for Disney and ABC in the 1990s.
The show began airing on ABC before Disney purchased the network in 1997 for $19 billion.
Williams previously wrote for "The Cosby Show" and was an executive producer for "Roseanne." As his talent agent, APA received a commission for bringing him to Disney to create "Home Improvement," a family sitcom that aired on ABC from 1991 to 1999.
Under the contract between Disney and ABC, Disney made the show and received a "base license fee" from the network for each episode. In turn, Disney was supposed to give a fixed percentage of the fee to APA as commission, Feldman said.
Under the agreement between Disney and ABC, the original license fee was $410,000 in the show's first year, and was meant to climb by 4 percent every year afterward, Feldman said.
But when the show became a hit, the license fee grew at a much faster rate until ABC was paying $3 million per episode by its final season, he said.
But while the license fee grew at a much faster rate than originally stated, Disney continued to pay APA its commissions as if the license fee were growing by 4 percent each year, Feldman said.
07/24/02 20:22 ET