LEAVE IT TO BEAVER TROUBLEMAKER OSMOND SUES SCREEN ACTORS GUILD
Beloved U.S. TV star KEN OSMOND is suing the Screen Actors Guild union bosses for allegedly holding back more than $8 million (£4 million) in foreign royalties belonging to him and his peers.
The Leave It To Beaver star filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles on Tuesday (18Sep07), accusing SAG chiefs of "unjust enrichment" and "violations of the California business code".
The lawsuit seeks class-action status on behalf of at least 30,000 actors and others.
Osmond argues that since at least 1996, SAG has collected royalties for use of TV and movie productions outside the U.S. in the form of levies for video rentals, private copying, cable transmissions and other uses.
He says very little of the cash has been distributed to the actors, himself included.
The lawsuit contends that the guild has collected more than $8 million (£4 million) - but paid out only about $250,000 (£125,000).
In the documents, Osmond says, "SAG stated that paying out the monies was ‘complex,’ and that it did not have a system in place to pay out such monies."
Movie & Entertainment News provided by World Entertainment News Network (www.wenn.com)
Related News:
