Court upholds $319M verdict in 'Millionaire' case
LOS ANGELES (AP) - A federal appeals court on Monday upheld a $319 million verdict over profits from the game show "Who Wants to Be a Millionaire" and rejected Walt Disney Co.'s request for a new trial.
A jury decided in 2010 that Disney hid the show's profits from its creators, London-based Celador International. The ruling Monday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no issues with the verdict or with a judge's rulings in the case.
"I am pleased that justice has been done," Celador Chairman Paul Smith said in a statement.
Disney did not immediately comment on the decision.
The ruling comes more than two years after the jury ruled in Celador's favor after a lengthy trial that featured testimony from several top Disney executives. The company sued in 2004, claiming Disney was using creative accounting to hide profits from the show, which first ran in the United States from August 1999 to May 2002 and was a huge hit for ABC.
The jury found that Celador was owed $269.2 million, and a judge later added $50 million in interest to the judgment.
The appeals court determined the verdict was not "grossly excessive or monstrous" and that it was not based on speculation or guesswork.
A jury decided in 2010 that Disney hid the show's profits from its creators, London-based Celador International. The ruling Monday by a three-judge panel of the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals found no issues with the verdict or with a judge's rulings in the case.
"I am pleased that justice has been done," Celador Chairman Paul Smith said in a statement.
Disney did not immediately comment on the decision.
The ruling comes more than two years after the jury ruled in Celador's favor after a lengthy trial that featured testimony from several top Disney executives. The company sued in 2004, claiming Disney was using creative accounting to hide profits from the show, which first ran in the United States from August 1999 to May 2002 and was a huge hit for ABC.
The jury found that Celador was owed $269.2 million, and a judge later added $50 million in interest to the judgment.
The appeals court determined the verdict was not "grossly excessive or monstrous" and that it was not based on speculation or guesswork.
I find it incongruous that Disney, while attempting to present itself as a company selling clean, wholesome family entertainment with strong moral values will attempt to defraud another company out of over a quarter of a billion dollars. Nice job Disney!
 @Sumner31 Disney has gotten just a little Goofy.
Wow. What a story. Nothing like a freezeframe/instant replay for truth.
Did Disney use any of their lifelines?
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Was this their final answer?
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Let's do the math.
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The show ran for 3 years so each year they made about $90M per year. Just for grins, let's say they did 50 shows each year, so they made a little less than $2M per show. That is one heck of a lot of profit for a 30 min. TV show! With 10 min. of commercial breaks, that comes out to about $100,000 PROFIT per min. of entertainment broadcast.
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This show must have cost the sponsors at least 10 times that amount when you consider production and distribution costs! I wonder how much laundry soap you have to sell just to pay for the advertising budget?
The lady pictured...does she have pointed ears, because she looks like she could be a Vulcan.. LOL
I wonder what Walt would say,
What kind of "Mickey Mouse" operation are they running? Â Sounds like they are leading "A Thugs Life", but we must be Simba-thetic to them, they have to pay for their trips to the "Mulan" Rouge. Â Now it seems they have themselves in a real "Tangled" mess. It was a Beauty of an idea, but now they're in a Beast of a situation. Looks like they are going to have to pay "Up".Â
 @The206 Yeah that wasn't funny. Wah wah wahhhhhhh.
 @The206 Nice try.
WHAT??? You can't trust Disney? Now THAT'S just Mickey-Mouse!!! ;-P
 @JLS1950 Just a bunch of animals, and the leadership is simply vermin from what I understand.Â
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Hollywood Accounting is pretty notorious. Â Did you know Forrest Gump, a movie that was #1 at the box office for 10 straight weeks *lost* money? Â Â These guys cook the books so they don't have to pay out to anyone contracted to get part of the *net.* Â Â Same with "Return of the Jedi," Â a movie that made almost half a billion dollars on a $35 million dollar budget. Â It's never shown a profit, though. Â Â They tell you this with a straight face and then don't pay you.
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The lesson is "Always get paid on gross receipts, not net."
Wow amazing. Nice example Disney.
Screw Disney
 @Larry*X*K Ummm  "screw Disney"...  While you have an avatar that's reminiscent of Stitch, famous from Disney's "Lilo & Stitch" series in the early 2000s? Â
 @DrugFighter  @Larry*X*K http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/6/67/Deadmau5.png/220px-Deadmau5.png
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 @DrugFighter  @Larry*X*K actually that is more reminiscent of the Deadmau5 mouse head.
The 9th Circuit COA is infamous for decisions that are overturned by the Supreme Court. Expect Disney to appeal.
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From the LA Times:
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The Supreme Court reversed or vacated 19 of the 26 decisions it looked at from the 9th Circuit this judicial term, issuing especially pointed critiques of the court's handling of cases involving prisoners' rights and death row reprieves.
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Although the proportion of reversals was relatively in line with past years and other appellate circuits across the country, the 9th Circuit was often out of step even with the high court's liberal justices, who joined with the conservatives in 12 unanimous rulings.
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In their reversals, the justices often expressed impatience with what they see as stubborn refusal by the lower court to follow Supreme Court precedent. One of the circuit's most renowned liberals, Judge Stephen Reinhardt, was seen by judicial analysts as the main target of the justices' pique.
 @hunsinD3haha You made that up didn't you. Otherwise you would have given the article date so people could confirm or deny your comments.
@Joy Johnson @hunsinD3haha July 18, 2011