Cases

Universal International Inc v Flextech Rights Ltd

Held

The Court of Appeal held that the judge should have declined to answer the issue of dissolution, because all depended on whether the changes relied on by Flextech were such as to render the episodes of JSS in the 2002 season dissimilar in content to those in the benchmark season. The court also rejected Universal’s primary case that the content clause was limited to the essential characteristics of the show, eg that the JSS had to remain a live talk show dealing with outrageous topics and sensational disclosures. In equal measure, it did not follow that the alleged changes relied on by Flextech, e.g more sex and more violence, meant that the episodes were no longer similar in content. The issue was essentially a jury question and was one for the trial judge taking into account all the salient facts. Appeal allowed in part.

Also