Discovery Sanctions In Litigation over Soap Opera

A copyright infringement lawsuit centered on the Telemundo network's popular Spanish-language telenovela El Rostro de Analia has some melodrama of its own.

A federal magistrate judge has handed down sanctions for “substantial discovery violations” that now sit at $540,000 but are slated to grow for the Venezuelan TV company Latele Television C.A., which says the Telemundo defendants' show is a carbon copy of its drama Maria Maria, which premiered in 1989.

Another evidentiary hearing is scheduled in Miami for January 9 to determine the scope of ethical violations, including whether a key document was forged.

Latele filed suit in July 2012 against Hialeah, FL-based Telemundo Communications Group, claiming El Rostro de Analia is a rip-off of its older show Maria Maria . Telemundo is a division of NBCUniversal Inc. Latele Television C.A. v. Telemundo Communications Group LLC, 1:2012cv22539 (S.D.Fla.). Both shows are premised on the mistaken identity of two women. Maria Maria takes place in Caracas in the 1980s; El Rostro takes place in Los Angeles. El Rostro was immensely popular in its original run from October 2008 to July 2009. Its 170 episodes still play in countries such as Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria and Vietnam.

A federal judge last year refused to dismiss the case, finding Telemundo's show was substantially similar and was co-written by one of the same authors as Maria Maria , Humberto “Kiko” Olivieri. The case veered, though, in the last year to a claim by Telemundo that Latele can't prove it had rights to Maria Maria when it filed the lawsuit.

Federal Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman invoked the classic TV show Truth or Consequences to make his point in his recent sanctions order, saying that Latele wasn't honest with the defense or the court.

However, Goodman refused to dismiss the case, though on Dec. 18, Goodman released the Telemundo defendants' parent holding company, Telemundo Media LLC, from the litigation, by noting it “played no role whatsoever in any of the activities referenced in Plaintiff's Complaint. This is because TCG is merely a holding company for the other Telemundo Defendants.”

Telemundo is represented by Greenberg Traurig attorney Gregory W. Herbert in Orlando. Attorney Peggy Garcia of the Robert Allen Law Firm in Miami represented Latele in producing all documents. She testified at a previous evidentiary hearing that she didn't tell Latele's trial counsel that the rights to Maria Maria were transferred to the owner of Latele, Fernardo Fraiz, and then to its U.S. company.

Then in a twist worthy of any soap opera, Latele produced an “addendum” supposedly prepared two years earlier negating the rights transfer to Fraiz and the U.S. company. The addendum came after Telemundo filed another motion to dismiss.

“Defendants accuse Latele of fraudulently creating the addendum and falsely claiming it was prepared in 2012 rather than in 2014,” Magistrate Goodman said. Garcia told the court she recalled the addendum only through conversations with Fraiz, and felt there was no need to disclose the attempted transfer of rights of the show.

Magistrate Goodman wasn't amused. He noted in the sanctions order that Garcia had done no litigation work since she was admitted to the bar in 2008 and failed to do proper legal research on disclosing the transfers before the addendum. Her law firm had three full-time litigation attorneys, but she never consulted any of them, Goodman noted.

Goodman has ordered Latele to pay for attorney and court costs associated with bringing the motion about the discovery violation. The Robert Allen Law Firm puts those costs at $540,000.

The magistrate judge also decided discovery on the issue of the addendum would continue with the plaintiffs paying attorney fees.

Attorney Mark Sullivan, a partner at Klein Glasser Park Lowe & Pelstring in Miami, represented the Robert Allen Law Firm on the sanctions issue only. He said the firm no longer represents Latele. Sullivan referred to a response to Goodman's order saying the firm had a very defined role in the case and was not lead trial counsel and should not be liable for the $540,000 sanctions on due process grounds.

“It's a pretty big bill,” Sullivan said. “No one likes to see former clients sanctioned, and we believe that with more time at the January hearing that Latele may convince the court that these events were innocuous.”

John Pacenti covers the federal courts for The Daily Business Review, the Miami-based ALM sibling of Entertainment Law & Finance.

A copyright infringement lawsuit centered on the Telemundo network's popular Spanish-language telenovela El Rostro de Analia has some melodrama of its own.

A federal magistrate judge has handed down sanctions for “substantial discovery violations” that now sit at $540,000 but are slated to grow for the Venezuelan TV company Latele Television C.A., which says the Telemundo defendants' show is a carbon copy of its drama Maria Maria, which premiered in 1989.

Another evidentiary hearing is scheduled in Miami for January 9 to determine the scope of ethical violations, including whether a key document was forged.

Latele filed suit in July 2012 against Hialeah, FL-based Telemundo Communications Group, claiming El Rostro de Analia is a rip-off of its older show Maria Maria . Telemundo is a division of NBCUniversal Inc. Latele Television C.A. v. Telemundo Communications Group LLC, 1:2012cv22539 (S.D.Fla.). Both shows are premised on the mistaken identity of two women. Maria Maria takes place in Caracas in the 1980s; El Rostro takes place in Los Angeles. El Rostro was immensely popular in its original run from October 2008 to July 2009. Its 170 episodes still play in countries such as Serbia, Albania, Bulgaria and Vietnam.

A federal judge last year refused to dismiss the case, finding Telemundo's show was substantially similar and was co-written by one of the same authors as Maria Maria , Humberto “Kiko” Olivieri. The case veered, though, in the last year to a claim by Telemundo that Latele can't prove it had rights to Maria Maria when it filed the lawsuit.

Federal Magistrate Judge Jonathan Goodman invoked the classic TV show Truth or Consequences to make his point in his recent sanctions order, saying that Latele wasn't honest with the defense or the court.

However, Goodman refused to dismiss the case, though on Dec. 18, Goodman released the Telemundo defendants' parent holding company, Telemundo Media LLC, from the litigation, by noting it “played no role whatsoever in any of the activities referenced in Plaintiff's Complaint. This is because TCG is merely a holding company for the other Telemundo Defendants.”

Telemundo is represented by Greenberg Traurig attorney Gregory W. Herbert in Orlando. Attorney Peggy Garcia of the Robert Allen Law Firm in Miami represented Latele in producing all documents. She testified at a previous evidentiary hearing that she didn't tell Latele's trial counsel that the rights to Maria Maria were transferred to the owner of Latele, Fernardo Fraiz, and then to its U.S. company.

Then in a twist worthy of any soap opera, Latele produced an “addendum” supposedly prepared two years earlier negating the rights transfer to Fraiz and the U.S. company. The addendum came after Telemundo filed another motion to dismiss.

“Defendants accuse Latele of fraudulently creating the addendum and falsely claiming it was prepared in 2012 rather than in 2014,” Magistrate Goodman said. Garcia told the court she recalled the addendum only through conversations with Fraiz, and felt there was no need to disclose the attempted transfer of rights of the show.

Magistrate Goodman wasn't amused. He noted in the sanctions order that Garcia had done no litigation work since she was admitted to the bar in 2008 and failed to do proper legal research on disclosing the transfers before the addendum. Her law firm had three full-time litigation attorneys, but she never consulted any of them, Goodman noted.

Goodman has ordered Latele to pay for attorney and court costs associated with bringing the motion about the discovery violation. The Robert Allen Law Firm puts those costs at $540,000.

The magistrate judge also decided discovery on the issue of the addendum would continue with the plaintiffs paying attorney fees.

Attorney Mark Sullivan, a partner at Klein Glasser Park Lowe & Pelstring in Miami, represented the Robert Allen Law Firm on the sanctions issue only. He said the firm no longer represents Latele. Sullivan referred to a response to Goodman's order saying the firm had a very defined role in the case and was not lead trial counsel and should not be liable for the $540,000 sanctions on due process grounds.

“It's a pretty big bill,” Sullivan said. “No one likes to see former clients sanctioned, and we believe that with more time at the January hearing that Latele may convince the court that these events were innocuous.”

John Pacenti covers the federal courts for The Daily Business Review, the Miami-based ALM sibling of Entertainment Law & Finance.