trysail
Catch Me Who Can
- Joined
- Nov 8, 2005
- Posts
- 25,593
Only Hollywood!
Sheesh! What a bunch of slimeballs!
Why anybody believes anything that emanates from Hollywood is beyond comprehension. "Hollywood ethics" are identical to those practiced by politicians and Wall Street.
"If you can trust a man, a written contract is a waste of paper. If you can't trust a man, a written contract is still a waste of paper."
-George F. Getty
( an attorney and father of J. Paul Getty )
____________________
( Fair Use Excerpts )
‘Hobbit’ Heirs Seek $220 Million From Time Warner Over ‘Rings’
By Brett Pulley
July 15 (Bloomberg) -- J.R.R. Tolkien sold movie rights to his “Lord of the Rings” novels 40 years ago for 7.5 percent of future receipts. Three films and $6 billion later, his heirs say they haven’t seen a dime from Time Warner Inc.
The accounting methods used by New Line Cinema, the Time Warner unit that made the movies, will face a jury’s scrutiny in October, when the heirs’ lawsuit against the New York-based media company is set for trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.
“Usually it’s not outright thievery by the studios, but death by contract,” said Pierce O’Donnell, a Los Angeles- based lawyer...
The three films based on Tolkien’s fantasy epic -- 2001’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”; “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” in 2002; and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” released in 2003 -- have generated almost $3 billion in worldwide box-office receipts, and another $3 billion from DVDs, merchandise and other sources, according to Rowe.
Tolkien, a writer and professor at Oxford University who died in 1973, received $250,000 from United Artists when he signed over the film rights in 1969, according to a copy of the original contract, which was filed as evidence in the case.
Under the contract, New Line was to pay a percentage of all gross receipts, after deducting 2.6 times the production costs, plus advertising expenses in excess of a certain amount
Gross receipts typically consist of the studio’s share of box-office sales and revenue from sources such as home video, TV, merchandise and music royalties, O’Donnell said.
New Line’s accounting included 20 percent of home- entertainment revenue, instead of the 100 percent called for in the contract, the heirs say. The studio excluded foreign revenue, saying Warner Bros., not New Line, received those sales for distributing the films abroad, according to the complaint.
“The agreement says ‘all,’” Eskenazi said. “All does not mean 20 percent. All means all.”
“My instinct tells me this is Hollywood accounting in the extreme,” said O’Donnell, who wrote a book, “Fatal Subtraction: How Hollywood Really Does Business.” “If I was a betting man I’d say there’s money owed.”
____________
Full story:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aiAEIATGLREU
Sheesh! What a bunch of slimeballs!
Why anybody believes anything that emanates from Hollywood is beyond comprehension. "Hollywood ethics" are identical to those practiced by politicians and Wall Street.
"If you can trust a man, a written contract is a waste of paper. If you can't trust a man, a written contract is still a waste of paper."
-George F. Getty
( an attorney and father of J. Paul Getty )
____________________
( Fair Use Excerpts )
‘Hobbit’ Heirs Seek $220 Million From Time Warner Over ‘Rings’
By Brett Pulley
July 15 (Bloomberg) -- J.R.R. Tolkien sold movie rights to his “Lord of the Rings” novels 40 years ago for 7.5 percent of future receipts. Three films and $6 billion later, his heirs say they haven’t seen a dime from Time Warner Inc.
The accounting methods used by New Line Cinema, the Time Warner unit that made the movies, will face a jury’s scrutiny in October, when the heirs’ lawsuit against the New York-based media company is set for trial in Los Angeles Superior Court.
*****
“Usually it’s not outright thievery by the studios, but death by contract,” said Pierce O’Donnell, a Los Angeles- based lawyer...
*****
The three films based on Tolkien’s fantasy epic -- 2001’s “The Lord of the Rings: The Fellowship of the Ring”; “The Lord of the Rings: The Two Towers” in 2002; and “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King,” released in 2003 -- have generated almost $3 billion in worldwide box-office receipts, and another $3 billion from DVDs, merchandise and other sources, according to Rowe.
*****
Tolkien, a writer and professor at Oxford University who died in 1973, received $250,000 from United Artists when he signed over the film rights in 1969, according to a copy of the original contract, which was filed as evidence in the case.
Under the contract, New Line was to pay a percentage of all gross receipts, after deducting 2.6 times the production costs, plus advertising expenses in excess of a certain amount
*****
Gross receipts typically consist of the studio’s share of box-office sales and revenue from sources such as home video, TV, merchandise and music royalties, O’Donnell said.
New Line’s accounting included 20 percent of home- entertainment revenue, instead of the 100 percent called for in the contract, the heirs say. The studio excluded foreign revenue, saying Warner Bros., not New Line, received those sales for distributing the films abroad, according to the complaint.
“The agreement says ‘all,’” Eskenazi said. “All does not mean 20 percent. All means all.”
*****
“My instinct tells me this is Hollywood accounting in the extreme,” said O’Donnell, who wrote a book, “Fatal Subtraction: How Hollywood Really Does Business.” “If I was a betting man I’d say there’s money owed.”
____________
Full story:
http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20670001&sid=aiAEIATGLREU
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