Ellison is sueing Paramount over Crucible and other merchandise

[JD]

I was just on Trekmovie.com, and they are reporting that apparently Ellison has acted on his threats and is now in fact sueing Paramount and (or) CBS, partly due to the release of The Cruicible trilogy.
So does he have any kind of a chance of succes here? From what you guys have said the last, it seems to me like he probably doesn't.

 

[Dayton Ward]

Without being able to see the contract he signed for his original work on "City," there's no way to know what the real deal is. It would be atypical for a freelance writer to have retained the kind of rights he claims to have for what boils down to a work-for-hire agreement, but if he and/or his agent was savvy enough at the time the contract was written up, who's to say? If his contract does in fact reflect that he's due compensation he hasn't received, then more power to him.

 

[JD]

But you would think that if he really was supposed to have been getting money for all of this stuff over the years, someone would have noticed by now.

 

[Jan]

The actual complaint filed, which references the WGA MBA agreement which is applicable is here.

Jan

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

I like this paragraph:

35. Ellison has suffered enormous monetary damage as a result of the WGA’s breach of its duty of fair representation, but seeks in his prayer for relief only one dollar in monetary damages from the WGA. Ellison does not desire to take money from other writers, and the WGA operates with dues from its writer-Members. However, partly for the good of other writers, Ellison does seek a determination that the WGA breached its duty as averred...

God bless him. Go, Harlan!

 

[ronny]

24. In one instance, Ellison asked the WGA to pursue his claim to revenue
from a particular “talking” Christmas ornament featuring one of the key elements
of his City teleplay, The Guardian of Forever.

That actually sounds kind of cool.

 

[JD]

I just realized I forgot to post a link to the Trekmovie.come story.

 

[Christopher]

Interesting timing, that he'd choose to sue over Star Trek just when a new ST movie is about to open and the franchise is getting more media attention than it's gotten in ages...

 

[Paris]

Interesting timing, that he'd choose to sue over Star Trek just when a new ST movie is about to open and the franchise is getting more media attention than it's gotten in ages...

You're not calling Ellison opourtunistic are you???

 

[TerriO]

And the receipts would tend to be higher in the ramp up, and the contract clause (if you read the complaint) grants a nice percentage of the receipts on licensed merchandise that involve elements he created for City. My guess, the contract clause was somehow fulfilled informally up until Crucible hit his radar (no offense, David), but didn't even get informally fulfilled in the last couple of years. By the clause in the complaint, without seeing the response, there's decent grounds to at least bring the case.

 

[JD]

So is this actually a legitimate complaint then? I had figured that he was just pissed off and had no actual chance of winning anything.

 

[brcarthey]

Interesting timing, that he'd choose to sue over Star Trek just when a new ST movie is about to open and the franchise is getting more media attention than it's gotten in ages...

You're not calling Ellison opourtunistic are you???

even if CB was calling ellison that, based on how outspoken ellison is he'd probably say, "hell yeah!"

 

[Paris]

Interesting timing, that he'd choose to sue over Star Trek just when a new ST movie is about to open and the franchise is getting more media attention than it's gotten in ages...

You're not calling Ellison opourtunistic are you???

even if CB was calling ellison that, based on how outspoken ellison is he'd probably say, "hell yeah!"

Agreed Ellison would probably say that.

 

[QuasarVM]

Harlan, Harlan, Harlan...

 

[Rat Boy]

The way he keeps going after the studio, you'd think it was Al Davis who owed him money.

 

[QuasarVM]

The way he keeps going after the studio, you'd think it was Al Davis who owed him money.

Some people actually MELLOW with age...

...I guess it's a forlorn hope to expect that of Mr. Ellison.

 

[Mysterion]

So is this actually a legitimate complaint then? I had figured that he was just pissed off and had no actual chance of winning anything.

With Ellison, even once you get past the thunder and lightning, there does usually tend to be a vaild point in his ranting.

 

[Admiral Buzzkill]

Interesting timing, that he'd choose to sue over Star Trek just when a new ST movie is about to open and the franchise is getting more media attention than it's gotten in ages...

Interesting thing, of course, is that this situation has been ongoing since 2007, when the "Crucible" books drew his attention. There were considerable attempts to pursue it through the WGA which are discussed in the complaint and elsewhere.

So is this actually a legitimate complaint then? I had figured that he was just pissed off and had no actual chance of winning anything.

With Ellison, even once you get past the thunder and lightning, there does usually tend to be a vaild point in his ranting.

Absolutely. Ask "the King of the world" - oh, but you better stand far enough back to avoid the spittle.

 

[Red Ranger]

My one-word reaction -- again? -- RR

 

[Rat Boy]

It's interesting that he's lashing out against the WGA since he's one of their top members, if memory serves.