Facts

In 1999, Celador Productions entered into an agreement with American Broadcasting Companies Inc. (ABC) and Buena Vista Television (BVT), both subsidiaries of The Walt Disney Company, to license the television game show, "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire." Under the agreement, Celador was entitled to 50 percent of the profits from the show, as defined in the rights agreement between the parties, which began airing in 1999. Celador filed suit against Disney, alleging breach of contract.

PLAINTIFF'S CONTENTIONS:
Celador contended that Disney had used its subsidiaries to deprive Celador of a fair market value network license fee and thereby deprive Celador of its fair share of profits for the show. Celador also contended that the accounting methods Disney employed prevented Celador from fairly sharing in the merchandising revenue from the ancillary products related to the show.

DEFENDANT'S CONTENTIONS:
Disney contended that the show's revenues were allocated in a normal fashion, whereby ABC paid BVT a license fee that covered the full costs of production. However, Celador agreed to a 10 percent overhead charge and interest which put the series in a negative position when it came off the network and went into syndication. The profits in syndication were not enough to overcome the negative from the network run when the 35 percent distribution fee, agreed to in the rights agreement between the parties, was applied. Disney contended that Celador's agents, who negotiated the original contract, were well aware of the arrangement between ABC and BVT and the historical industry practice that ABC and BVT followed.

Result

The jury awarded Celador $269.4 million in damages. The court, subsequently, awarded Celador $50 million in prejudgment interest.