Bit Parts

The U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit affirmed that a film investor who was awarded damages for breach of contract over the film director's activities in promoting the movie, wasn't also entitled to a declaration of ownership of the movie's distribution and promotion rights. Berman v. Flynn, 07-2154. Richard Berman had provided funding for the documentary film Your Mommy Kills Animals. Maura Flynn wrote the treatment. Berman and Flynn later sued director Curt Johnson for making significant changes to the treatment and over Johnson's “promot[ing] the film via the Internet, interviews, screenings, and by engaging a distribution consultant.” A jury awarded Berman $370,000 on the breach of contract claim. (Berman had invested $310,000 in the movie in return for a promised $60,000 in profit.) The district judge then ruled that Flynn was a co-author of the movie with Johnson but denied Berman's request for a declaration that Berman owned the distribution and promotion rights. The Fourth Circuit noted in its unpublished opinion: “We agree with the district court that the jury, in finding a breach of contract and awarding damages, compensated Berman for all losses flowing from the breach. A declaration granting Berman the promotion and distribution rights, which had already been taken into account in the jury's damages award to him, would therefore amount to a double recovery.”