Agency For The Performing Arts, Inc. v. The Walt Disney Co.
Published: Aug. 20, 2002 | Result Date: Jul. 24, 2002 | Filing Date: Jan. 1, 1900 |Case number: BC176829 Verdict – $14,832,900
Judge
Court
L.A. Superior Central
Attorneys
Plaintiff
Joel N. Klevens
(Glaser, Weil, Fink, Howard, Avchen & Shapiro LLP)
Defendant
Charles H. Samel
(Stoel Rives LLP)
Facts
The talent agency, Agency For The Performing Arts (APA), the plaintiff, represented Matt Williams, the creator
of "Home Improvement", a TV television series. The defendant, agreed to pay a package commission to the
agency based upon the base license fee the defendant received from the ABC Television Network. The TV
series ran for eight years.
Beginning with the 3rd season through the 8th season, the network was paying license fees starting at
$750,000 an episode and ultimately reached $3 million per episode for the 7th and 8th season.
The defendant, however, was only paying a commission on the original license fee of $410,000 per episode for
season one, plus 4 percent for subsequent seasons.
The dispute was centered on the definition of the term "base license fee".
Other Information
PLEASE PROVIDE US THE CITY OF LOCALE FOR THE FOLLOWING EXPERTS: Ed Gradinger and Sheldon Mittleman
Deliberation
ten hours
Length
two weeks
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