Just finished watching the video, after reading the articles previously, and a new angle occurred to me. There was a lot of talk about all parties losing out if the ruling and/or arbitration end up being drawn out, as in the
Friday the 13th case. I think it's worth pointing out that there is
one party that benefits in that scenario, regardless of the outcome, and that's the lawyer representing the Thomas Brothers.
A few points to consider:
- Disney hasn't given any indication (so far) that they intend(ed) to deny the legal reversion of copyright to the brothers after the stipulated period has elapsed, which suggests that they have (or had) every intention of simply negotiating a new deal.
- Disney already has three (known) projects in varying degrees of development whose profitability is now jeopardised, making a settlement a driving priority.
- On the other side, any material benefit to the brothers depends on the copyright matter being settled in their favour, because only after this can they shop the franchise out to a new licensee. They get no stake of revenue for the existing movies etc., so reaching a point where new material can be produced is paramount.
- Despite this, legal representation for the brothers filed the suit with almost no time before the reversion date that would allow for negotiations (the quickest path to profit) to take place, effectively closing the door on that.
- As such, having the franchise locked in a prolonged legal stoush is not in their interests either, and with Disney's track record in this kind of dispute it's conceivable they might even lose.
Basically, there's only one party that is absolutely
guaranteed to walk out of this with a material benefit they wouldn't otherwise have made, and one that increases in proportion to the duration of the proceedings. Disney's legal department is in-house, so I don't think we should be looking there.
Given the outcome (or lack thereof) for
F13th, and the dissatisfaction the plaintiff has expressed in that case, I think we have to wonder who approached whom with the idea of going to war with Disney rather than simply hashing out a deal. There are plenty of lawyers who make a career out of this kind of predator behaviour (if you'll excuse the pun).
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Btw, there's a goof in your original article, Voodoo:
QuoteAnd within a couple weeks, a large anniversary update is expected for the upcoming Predator: Hunting Grounds video game.
It's the update that is "upcoming", not the videogame.