Spinal Tap, Rob Reiner Reunite to File $400 Million This Is Spinal Tap Lawsuit

The creators of This Is Spinal Tap are suing the French media company Vivendi SA for $400 million over fraud, accounting misappropriation, and breach of contract. The complaint was filed in October by Harry Shearer, and now, Rob Reiner, Christopher Guest, and Michael McKean have joined the lawsuit. The complaint claims that Vivendi deprived the film’s creators of “substantial revenues” and failed to “account honestly for income actually received” from the film. Vivendi is the French conglomerate that owns Universal Music Group along with Studiocanal, a film company listed as owning Spinal Tap’s trademark registrations. Learn more about the lawsuit at Shearer’s Fairness Rocks website.

The complaint accuses Vivendi and its agents of engaging “in anti-competitive business practices by manipulating accounting between Vivendi film and music subsidiaries” and engaging “in fraud to deprive the Spinal Tap creators of a fair return for their work.” The lawsuit says that despite the movie’s success and the the commercial repackaging of its music over the years, Vivendi has said the four creators’ share of merchandising from 1984 to 2006 was $81. Not $81 million—only $81. Soundtrack sales from 1989 to 2006 totaled $98, Vivendi allegedly reported.

This Is Spinal Tap grossed $4.5 million in U.S. theaters, Bloomberg notes, citing Box Office Mojo. According to the lawsuit, the film’s production budget was a “shoestring” $2.25 million. And the film’s cult has only grown since then, with DVDs, television airings, and a 2000 theatrical re-release that is mentioned in the lawsuit. The lawsuit asserts that the original 1982 production agreement called for the film’s creators to get 40% of the net receipts.

Last year, Shearer also filed to terminate Vivendi’s copyright to This Is Spinal Tap, as The Hollywood Reporter notes. U.S. copyright law allows authors to cancel copyright grants and reclaim rights after 35 years, meaning Vivendi could potentially lose its copyright in 2019. Shearer “is concurrently issuing notices of copyright termination and has filed trademark applications to secure creative rights,” according to the lawsuit.

“The deliberate obfuscation by Vivendi and its subsidiaries is an outrage,” said Guest in a statement. “It is vital that such behavior is challenged in the strongest way possible.”

“Fair reward for artistic endeavor has long been raised by those on the wrong end of the equation,” reads a statement from Reiner. “Such anti-competitive practices need to be exposed. I am hoping this lawsuit goes to 11.”

“This is Spinal Tap was the result of four very stubborn guys working very hard to create something new under the sun,” writes McKean. “The movie’s influence on the last three decades of film comedy is something we are very proud of. But the buck always stopped somewhere short of Rob, Harry, Chris and myself. It’s time for a reckoning. It’s only right.”

Check out “Pitchfork’s Great Pop Music Movie Moments” over on the Pitch.

Comments are closed.