The lawsuit filed by five cast members of the iconic television show "Happy Days" against CBS Studios for unpaid merchandising royalties has settled.
On June 5, 2012 Jon Pfeiffer won a key ruling in the lawsuit. CBS had filed a motion for summary judgment claiming that the case should be dismissed because DVDs are not merchandise. Los Angeles Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Allen White denied the motion and cleared the case to go to trial on July 17, 2012. Judge White ruled that the actors may be entitled to merchandising revenue for the sale of DVDs with their images on them.
On July 6, 2012, the parties announced that they reached a settlement. According to their agreement, the cast members may say the following:
"We have settled our lawsuit with CBS and Paramount. The terms of the settlement are confidential, but we are satisfied with the outcome. We will continue to receive all of the merchandising royalties promised to us in our contracts."
Jon Pfeiffer is an experienced entertainment and copyright trial attorney practicing in Santa Monica. Jon is also an adjunct professor at Pepperdine University in Malibu, California where he teaches Media Law. His class covers First Amendment issues as well as copyright, defamation and privacy.
Contact Jon and his team today.
