MGM wins new round in 007 suit
Legal Eagle: 'One more nail in the Sony coffin'
On Dec. 28, the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a motion by Sony for a rehearing on the preliminary injunction.
In November, the appeals court upheld a trial court order enjoining Sony from developing scripts or otherwise proceeding with the creation of its own Bond movies while the case is pending.
MGM chairman Frank Mancuso said in a statement: "This decision means that Sony has exhausted all its legal options before trial. ... We eagerly await our court date to establish damages for Sony's interference."
Pierce O'Donnell, who represents MGM, added, "This is just one more nail in the Sony coffin."
Sony had no comment on the decision.
With the appeals process over, a trial is expected in late March in Los Angeles federal court. Daily Variety has learned that as part of trial preparation, MGM and Danjaq LLC, the longtime producer of the Bond series, will soon begin a process of "declassifying" depositions of key witnesses, which were placed under a confidentiality order, making them unavailable to the public.
The trial is likely to focus not only on complex issues of copyright and trademark law, but also MGM's claims against Sony head John Calley. MGM has alleged that Calley misappropriated confidential info about the Bond franchise that he acquired during his tenure as prez of United Artists and that Sony deliberately timed its announcement of a competing Bond franchise to disrupt MGM's initial public offering.
MGM pegs its loss on the IPO as the result of Sony's actions at $40 million.
MGM and Danjaq have produced 18 Bond films over 35 years.Last year, Sony announced that it planned to create its own Bond series, based on rights it bought from Kevin McClory, who collaborated with Bond creator Ian Fleming on the script to "Thunderball."
