Facts

Sandi Spreckman and Kaye Switzer were co-creators and producers of the show that came to be known as "Judge Judy." Spreckman and Switzer approached Judith Sheindlin in the mid-1990s and suggested that the family court judge take her career from the courtroom to the television. In 1995, Switzer and Spreckman entered into a contract with Big Ticket Pictures, Inc., a division of CBS Studios, Inc., whereby Big Ticket would develop what came to be the Judge Judy television series pilot. Shortly after the deal was completed, Switzer and Spreckman left the series. In 2018, Switzer and the Sandi Spreckman Trust filed suit against Sheindlin, Big Ticket, Her Honor, Inc., and CBS Studios.

PLAINTIFFS' CONTENTIONS: Plaintiffs asserted claims for breach of contract; breach of implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing; civil conspiracy; inducing breach of contract; unjust enrichment; and accounting. Plaintiffs contended that defendants failed to pay plaintiffs their contractual percentage of the sale of the catalog of pre-existing episodes of Judge Judy (the library). Plaintiffs claimed that under the 1995 agreement, plaintiffs were promised compensation for as long as the series ran, even if they were not still producing it. Plaintiffs claimed that in 2015, Big Ticket and the CBS defendants, while negotiating with defendant Sheindlin for continued episodes of the Judge Judy show, negotiated for the transfer of the library to defendant Sheindlin. Plaintiffs asserted that, as a result of the transfer to defendant Sheindlin, defendant Sheindlin assumed the financial obligations of defendants Big Ticket and CBS to plaintiffs. Plaintiffs alleged that in August 2017, defendant Sheindlin sold the library to defendant CBS for over $95,000,000, and that plaintiffs were not compensated their portion of the sales proceeds. Plaintiffs contended that all defendants conspired to breach the contracts that benefited plaintiffs when purchasing and selling the library.

DEFENDANTS' CONTENTIONS: Defendants denied all contentions. Defendants contended that the contracts between defendant CBS and Sheindlin between 2015 and 2017 proved that neither sale ever occurred.

Result

The motion for summary judgment filed by Sheindlin, Big Ticket Pictures, Inc., Her Honor, Inc., and CBS Studios, Inc. was granted.