Golden Globe Awards Lawsuit Goes To Trial

Dick Clark Productions and the Hollywood Foreign Press Association are officially going to trial to determine who has the rights to negotiate television deals on behalf of the Golden Globe Awards.

A U.S. District judge decided to send the case to trial after Dick Clark Productions extended its agreement with NBC to air the pre-Oscars award show through 2018, while the Hollywood Foreign Press Association sued them in November, claiming that the production company did not have the right to make that long-term deal.

Judge Valerie Baker Fairbank refused to side with either party, instead noting:

“The court finds that the disputed portion of the 1993 amendment is reasonable susceptible to the interpretations of both parties.”

The judge called for a jury trial to begin Aug. 30.

In a release following that statement HFPA’s President Aida Takla-O’Reilly said:

“We look forward to proceeding to trial and vindicating our rights.”

While Dick Clark Productions countered their statement by noting:

“We firmly believe our position will be vindicated as we were within our contract rights to make the NBC deal,” while adding, “The HFPA knows this all too well and is simply trying to rewrite the contract through litigation.”

The ruling could affect the new contract that Dick Clark productions has signed with NBC should the jury find in favor of the Hollywood Foreign Press Association.

The ruling is not expected to affect the next showing of the Golden Globe Awards but if it did would you be upset if the Golden Globes ran into issues because of this squabble?