Harry Shearer has launched a $125 million deception and breach of contract lawsuit against Vivendi and StudioCanal over the 1984 rockumentary classic, This is Spinal Tap.
The protest filed Monday (Oct. 17) in California federal court is packed with enough ingots to instantly make this a must-be seen "Hollywood Accounting" case. Through the lawsuit, Shearer also reveals he is aiming to grab back rights to the film and its continuously popular album.
Shearer, perhaps best known for the 23 characters on The Simpsons he voices, co-created the semi-fake band Spinal Tap in the 1970s with Christopher Guest and Michael McKean. The later film, directed by Rob Reiner and featuring Shearer as bassist Derek Smalls, was produced and released by Embassy Pictures. After massive reviews and a series of proceedings, rights to Spinal Tap gained by Vivendi, the French cartel which once had the ambition of befitting of the largest studios in the entertainment business.
"According to Vivendi, the four creators' share of total worldwide merchandising income between 1984 and 2006 was $81 (eighty-one) dollars. Between 1989 and 2006 total income from music sales was $98 (ninety-eight) dollars," says Shearer's suit of the cash he and co-creators Christopher Guest, Michael McKeon and Reiner were to share. In fact, the original 1982 production deal had the quartet of creators getting 40% of the net profits - considerably more that the less that $200 cited here on a $2.25 million-budgeted film that has easily made millions over the last 32 years.
"Over the past two years, Vivendi has failed to provide accounting statements at all," Shearer adds in the suit, which seeks to reclaim the control of Spinal Tap as well as seeking multimillion-dollar indemnity. According to Shearer, Vivendi and fellow accused StudioCanal claim Spinal Tap has never made money.
Shearer, who almost left The Simpsons last year over a contract dispute with Fox, is represented by Peter Haviland, Scott Humphreys and Terrence Jones of L.A.'s Ballard Spaht LLP.
