Californian court pauses ruling that had handed distribution of iconic gameshows to Sony
CBS wins Wheel of Fortune & Jeopardy reprieve
Paramount’s CBS and Sony Pictures Television’s battle for control of two landmark gameshows has taken another turn.
CBS has won a temporary legal reprieve allowing it to continue distributing Wheel of Fortune and Jeopardy, pausing an LA judge’s ruling last week that had permitted SPT to stop delivering shows to the Paramount-owned firm.
California’s Second Appellate District court said the initial ruling on the case had been “stayed pending further order of this court”.
The appeals court has told Sony to file its case by 28 April, with CBS required to reply by 9 May. The Appellate court will then review the case and provide its findings.
Context and background
SPT and CBS Studios have been at loggerheads over the distribution of the Sony-owned gameshows for months, after SPT filed a lawsuit against CBS Studios in October.
In that lawsuit, SPT alleged that CBS Studios owed it money from previous distribution deals and said it was taking back rights to licensing the shows in the US and around the world.
Sony also claimed CBS Studios had violated terms of its 40-year distribution contract by setting up licensing deals beyond the agreed two-year period in territories including Australia and New Zealand, and had bundled the show with what Sony claimed were less popular CBS series of lesser value.
CBS, however, argued that Sony’s court action was a means by which to retake distribution and said Sony had offered a nine-figure sum to buy the rights back. That was dismissed by CBS, which claimed it was only then that Sony took legal action.
The battle intensified in February after a US court slapped a temporary ban on SPT from seizing back the rights to the iconic gameshows, but Judge Kevin Brazile ruled last week Sony’s lawsuit is likely to succeed and prevented CBS’s bid for a preliminary injunction.
The resultant Court order, which had read that “Sony can begin distributing the shows and need not deliver episodes to CBS,” has now been paused.
In his initial ruling, Judge Brazile had pointed to testimony from former CBS vice-president Roxanne Pompa, who said the gameshow had been “relegated to the back seat”, with CBS-owned shows given more attention.
Both titles are distributed by CBS in conjunction with Paramount’s sales arm, Paramount Global Content Distribution (PGCD). Sony produces the series.
Sony and CBS did not comment on the latest developments.
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