Earlier this April, four members of the iconic TV sitcom Happy Days filed a lawsuit against CBS claiming that the company had not paid them for merchandising revenues owed under their contracts.
Under said contracts, the actors- Marion Ross, Don Most, Anson Williams and Erin Moran- were supposed to receive 5% of net proceeds, or 2 1/2% if their images were used in a group.
When the group began seeing multiple “ Happy Days ” slot machines popping up in casinos around the country in 2008, but received no royalties, they decided to move forward with legal action.
According to the lawsuit, CBS “adopted a ‘don’t ask, don’t pay’ policy. If you don’t ask, then we don’t pay.’” The suit asks for $10 million in damages.
CBS, however has responded to the allegations claiming there is no substantial evidence of fraud. They also said that the actors couldn’t prove that the company [CBS] had no intentions of paying them when the original contracts were drawn up.
“Instead, all plaintiffs can allege is that defendants ultimately failed to pay,” which is “insufficient as a matter of law to show fraud.”
CBS went on to say that the actors are “owed royalties from the merchandising of ‘Happy Days’ and have, in fact, been working with their representatives for some time to see that they are paid what they are due.”
via CNN
