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2012 TV News Archives

September 5, 2012: Judge Sends "Smallville" Lawsuit to Trial

A judge has decided that the arguments over whether the creators of "Smallville" were robbed of profits by Warner Bros. will be decided by a jury in the ongoing lawsuit.

Warner Bros. argued in its motion for summary judgment that it had absolute discretion to determine the terms of its license agreement. But in denying that motion, the judge accepted the plaintiff's response that the studio was obligated to make deals in good faith.

According to the judge's ruling: "Plaintiffs have demonstrated triable issues regarding these provisions: whether WBTV complied with its arms-length obligations, whether a provision which proposed to add that the agreements be "for fair market rates consistent with licenses granted by Warner to non-affiliates" was included in the Producers' MAGD [Modified Adjusted Gross Definition], whether the absolute discretion clause applies to the producers without limit and whether the producers' MAGD inherently included the equivalent of an affiliate, arms-length provision."

Originally scheduled for next month, the trial will continue some time in October.

Source: HollywoodReporter.com