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Executive Producers' "Most Favored Nations" Clauses Could Be Applied to Walking Dead Series Producer's Profit-Participation Settlement
Can the settlement of a lawsuit by one profit participant in a TV production be used to increase the contingent compensation provisions of other profit participants in the show? The U.S. District Court for the Central District of California recently ruled it could, in a lawsuit brought by writer Robert Kirkman and several other executive producers of the massively successful, zombie-apocalypse TV series The Walking Dead. Kirkman v. AMC Film Holdings LLC, 2.:22-cv-09101.
Robert Kirkman, creator and writer of The Walking Dead comic book, and his co-plaintiffs filed their lawsuit in Los Angeles Superior Court, alleging breach of their profit-participation agreements by the AMC network. Previously, Walking Dead producer/director Frank Darabont and the Creative Artists Agency had filed a profit-participation lawsuit against AMC in New York state court. That action was settled in 2021, with AMC paying $200 million and promising Darabont a percentage of future Walking Dead streaming income.
The Kirkman case was removed to Los Angeles federal court. The plaintiffs' central argument is that the sweetened "most favored nations" (MFN) clause in the Darabont settlement agreement should be applied to their contracts with AMC.
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Major Differences In UK, U.S. Copyright Laws
This article highlights how copyright law in the United Kingdom differs from U.S. copyright law, and points out differences that may be crucial to entertainment and media businesses familiar with U.S law that are interested in operating in the United Kingdom or under UK law. The article also briefly addresses contrasts in UK and U.S. trademark law.
The Article 8 Opt In
The Article 8 opt-in election adds an additional layer of complexity to the already labyrinthine rules governing perfection of security interests under the UCC. A lender that is unaware of the nuances created by the opt in (may find its security interest vulnerable to being primed by another party that has taken steps to perfect in a superior manner under the circumstances.
Strategy vs. Tactics: Two Sides of a Difficult Coin
With each successive large-scale cyber attack, it is slowly becoming clear that ransomware attacks are targeting the critical infrastructure of the most powerful country on the planet. Understanding the strategy, and tactics of our opponents, as well as the strategy and the tactics we implement as a response are vital to victory.
Legal Possession: What Does It Mean?
Possession of real property is a matter of physical fact. Having the right or legal entitlement to possession is not "possession," possession is "the fact of having or holding property in one's power." That power means having physical dominion and control over the property.
The Anti-Assignment Override Provisions
UCC Sections 9406(d) and 9408(a) are one of the most powerful, yet least understood, sections of the Uniform Commercial Code. On their face, they appear to override anti-assignment provisions in agreements that would limit the grant of a security interest. But do these sections really work?