TNA FILES LAWSUIT AGAINST WWE FOR CONTRACT INTERFERENCE, UNFAIR COMPETITION AND OTHERS ISSUES STEMMING FROM INSIDER INFORMATION GIVEN TO WWE
by Mike Johnson @ 5:12 PM on 5/24/2012
TNA filed a lawsuit yesterday in court in Nashville against WWE and former TNA and WWE office worker Brian Wittenstein for interference with existing contracts, conversion, breach of contract, civil conspiracy, unfair competition, and violation of the Tennessee Uniform Trade Secrets Act. They are also suing Wittenstein for breach of duty of loyalty.
TNA's lawsuit alleges that that Wittenstein, who worked for the company for three years before departing in 2011, provided WWE with inside information on TNA contracts and other matters from his time working in TNA's talent relations and live events departments.
While working for TNA, Wittenstein handled third party bookings for TNA contracts to work independents, scheduling and lots of talent related grunt work. TNA sources at the time of Wittenstein's departure stated he was let go. Wittenstein told PWInsider several months later he had quit.
Wittenstein was hired by WWE earlier this year and worked briefly under Michael Hayes as an assistant before being let go. According to the suit, WWE fired Wittenstein after he presented them with insider TNA information. However, TNA claims that WWE did not approach them with that information until 5/7, several weeks after they let Wittenstein go.
TNA's lawsuit claimed that WWE is now trying to poach contracted talent from TNA, using inside information from TNA contracts to their advantage. Several days later after being contacted by WWE about the Wittenstein issue, Ric Flair (who, as we've reported here, TNA has been having issues with) approached TNA trying to get out of his contract.
TNA is alleging that Flair was trying to get out of his contract in order to go to WWE and that since telling TNA he wanted out of his deal, has not appeared at live events, including the Sacrifice PPV.
In the last week, there have also been rumors that Alex Shelley had turned down a new TNA contract and was looking to go to WWE as well. While those stories have been making the rounds, PWInsider.com has not been able to independently confirm them. Shelley was not specifically mentioned in the lawsuit filing.
An injunction was issued earlier today demanding that WWE and Wittenstein each return whatever confidential material Wittenstein retained from his time working for TNA. They were specifically instructed not to "destroy" any of the material.
I am told a hearing regarding the case is already slated for next month.
We'll have more information as we confirm it.
Note: Flair requesting he wanted out would go against the stories we heard about him being pulled from shows, so if that is indeed the case, we apologize for the error in our Flair story earlier this week.
Busy week for Jerry McDevitt, WWE attorney (for real, not David Otunga
)
FORMER AWA STAR SUING WWE OVER USING HIS LIKENESS WITHOUT PERMISSION ON DVDS AND OTHER MATERIAL
by Mike Johnson @ 8:01 PM on 5/24/2012
As if we didn't have enough legal news today!
Former AWA World Tag Team champion Doug Somers (Douglas Duane Somerson) filed a lawsuit against WWE and Vince and Linda McMahon in November 2011 regarding the company's usage of AWA footage containing his likeness and matches on four DVDs, WWE Classics on Demand, books and other materials without his personal consent.
Obviously, WWE owns the AWA library, which it purchased from The Gagne family in 2003 for a seven figure price-tag. Since that purchase, Somers has appeared bouts presented by WWE over the last decade, usually matches teaming with the late Buddy Rose against The Midnight Rockers, Shawn Michaels and Marty Jannetty from the 1980s.
IN his lawsuit, Somers alleges "invasion of privacy, unauthorized use of intellectual property, unjust enrichment, and violation of the Georgia Uniform Deceptive Trade Practices Act". The lawsuit was covered today in an article published on Lexology.com, which has links to a number of the filings in the case.
According to the piece, the lawsuit was filed in Georgia State court. WWE successfully moved to have the case moved to federal jurisdiction. WWE and the McMahons have filed motions to dismiss the case.
WWE's argument is based on the idea that when they acquired the rights to the AWA library, the AWA intellectual property of and copyrights became theirs to monetize as they see fit. Their argument is that Somers knew the footage was being filmed at the time he performed for the AWA and was paid at the time to perform, so he cannot claim copyright ownership. Since WWE now owns the AWA copyrights, they have the right to use the footage.
WWE is also arguing that any usage of Somers' name and likeness were related to telling a factual, newsworthy story and would fall under the First Amendment, just as a news broadcast or article would be protected.
WWE also attempted to shoot down Somers' "right to privacy" claim by noting that Somers described himself in his lawsuit as a "famous professional wrestler."
WWE also used an old lawsuit filed by Ricky Steamboat over alleged royalties owed for old video footage that was dismissed when the court sided with WWF (as they were known at the time) as precedence that Somers' claims don't hold water.
WWE using material that featured talents they don't contractually have any obligation to pay has been a gray area for some time. WWE talents routinely receive royalty payments for appearances on DVD, WWE Classics on Demand material, etc. even well after they leave the company contractually.
However, talents, announcers, etc. who have never had a relationship contractually with WWE (or were not signed to a Legends deal) have not, in most cases, received any form of payment, even when footage involving their likeness is used on WWE produced material. I've had a number of wrestlers and personalities who have worked everywhere from Jim Crockett Promotions to ECW and beyond note that they have never been contacted or offered payment for their likeness and material.
It should be interesting to see if the Somers vs. WWE case opens up the door for more talents who have not been receiving any form of compensation to receive payments from WWE or whether that door ends up closed via a precedent set here.
So he went off script and helped the guy get a contract when he wasn't supposed to. It was taped. They should have just edited it out of the program. Point blank they shouldn't have approved and done the stupid Gut Check segment without the proper steps in place where they would be covered on all or most angles.
