Hollywood Foreign Press Association, a California Corporation v. Red Zone Capital Partners II, LP, a Delaware Limited Partnership; Dick Clark Productions Inc.; a Delaware Corporation, Does 1 through 10, inclusive
Published: Jun. 23, 2012 | Result Date: Apr. 30, 2012 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: 2:10-cv-08833-AHM-FMO Bench Decision – Defense
Court
USDC Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
David J. Marroso
(O'Melveny & Myers LLP)
Daniel M. Petrocelli
(O'Melveny & Myers LLP)
Defendant
Manuel F. Cachan
(Proskauer Rose LLP)
Martin D. Katz
(Sheppard, Mullin, Richter & Hampton LLP)
Facts
The Hollywood Foreign Press Association ("HFPA"), which owns the rights to the Golden Globe Awards show trademarks, sued dick clark productions ("dcp") (which has produced the Golden Globes award show for the last 30 years) and Red Zone Capital Partners II, L.P. (which has an ownership interest in dcp) over an approximately $150 million deal the production company struck with NBC in 2010 to keep the show on NBC until at least 2018. The parties' dispute centered around the meaning of a clause in a 1993 contract between dcp and HFPA that gave dcp the right "to produce on tape or film the [Golden Globe] Awards for each of" eight specified years, "and for any extensions, renewals, substitutions or modifications of" the broadcast license agreement between dcp and NBC. Defendant dcp argued that it had the right to continue producing and distributing the Golden Globes for as long as the show is televised on NBC. HFPA disagreed, claiming dcp had no right to license the show (to NBC or anyone else) for broadcast beyond 2010 without the HFPA's express consent.
Result
Hon. A. Howard Matz concluded that dcp's interpretation of the parties' agreement is correct: dcp has the right to license the Golden Globes to NBC for so long as the network commits to broadcast the show, regardless of whether the HFPA approves of the license.
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