Charlie's Angels royalty case decided
A California appeals court ruled today in Wagner v. Columbia Pictures that Robert Wagner was not entitled to profits from the Charlie's Angels movies under an earlier agreement relating to the television series.
Robert and Natalie Wood had an agreement with Aaron Spelling's production company to develop ideas for a television pilot for ABC's 1974-1975 season. They came up with Harry's Angels, which was renamed, and the rest is television history. The agreement with the Wagners for Charlie's Angels provided a 50% share of net profits on:
"the right to exhibit photoplays of the series and from the exploitation of all ancillary, music and subsidiary rights in connection therewith."
In ruling against Wagner, the court concluded that "in connection therewith" applied to the television series, not to theatrical motion pictures. In coming to this conclusion, the court review the "separated rights" provisions of the applicable Writer's Guild agreement. Basically, separation of rights means that by way of collective bargaining, the writer retains certain rights, in this case motion picture rights when selling a script, notwithstanding a work-for-hire agreement. If you're not familiar with the guild overlay on copyrights in the entertainment context, this case is a good introduction.
Happy new year to all. A case about Charlies Angels seems like a good way to ease into the first full week of the year!
In other news, Farrah Fawcett has filed a patent for "Manipulating Hair On Head Into Feathered Configuration And Method Of Fabrication"
