The DVD was immediately #1 all-time Both season and only selling more. His percentage of DVD sales is what they didn't honor.
Now the tricky part is this... remember his part about "name in the universe etc" there apparently was a clause where basically it was saying the % he was owed was simply too much money.
This is factually wrong. If they didn't honor the contract, then he would have grounds to sue the shit out of them. It is not that they didn't honor the contract, but that they honored the contract to the letter.
The 'name in universe' part is simply saying that they own the name to the show forever and have the rights to use that name anywhere in the world (universe). Has nothing to do with percentages.
legally nothing thats why dave is going this route...he's leveraging his popularity and hoping his fanbase has his back and boycotts the show (which is really boycotting hbo...lets be honest)
That is all he was saying. It baffles me that anyone could watch the clip and come to any other conclusion. You get an A+.
Thats not true at all. They did not owe Dave any money and didn’t do him wrong because they fulfilled his contract.
You can’t cry foul when someone fronts millions of dollars to create something for you, especially after you signed a contract.
Simple business 101. Who ever puts up the money receives the bulk of the profits.
If the show flopped and Lose millions, would Dave help pay to cover the losses?
There is no position to take. You can’t cry about other peoples money. Comedy Central fronted the millions for the show and took all the risk. Dave didn’t put up any money. Of course Comedy Central will eat better off the deal.
All above is true, especially in the entertainment industry. The reason they are so adamant about keeping the money they make off of hit shows, is that no one talks about all the money they sink into shows that never see the light of day. They honored the contract.
He said they conspired against him. He didn't have bad counsel. Counselor was a bad faith actor; a Confederate.
This, they were all in on it, his counsel included.
Not true. People tend to look at it from the view point of how successful he has been; and not what the circumstances were at the time. Remember when said HBO had just kicked him out of the office? They told him 'what do we need you for.' He was a risk at that time. He wasn't commanding shit. He was looking for a break and would have signed an even worse contract to get it. They all will. When his lawyers told him it was a good deal, it probably was for a similarly situated comedian with no star power AT THAT TIME.
He wasn't in a bargaining position.....so at that point it is take it or leave it; and for most aspiring entertainers, they will take it.
I would say this...his lawyers may not have been in cahoots with CC...they just didn't care...they convinced him to sign a bad deal because they wanted that commission more than they cared about how it would actually affect him.
Again, the lawyers weren't representing the Chappell of today, but a skinny kid that was one in a million looking for a deal. It was only called a bad deal after he skyrocketed, but if he had flopped not one would be saying it was a bad deal. It was probably a comparable deal for similarly situated artists.
And did absolutely no one hear when he said he "did what any desperate artist with a pregnant wife" would do, he signed. Shit, at that time, his lawyers probably could not have stopped him from signing even if they wanted to. Ya'll really think that at that time in his life he would have told Comedy Central to go fuck themselves and that he would just keep doing night clubs for 250 a night. Shitttttttttttt.
Now, as for another question that was posed as to whether there was anything to be done now. Dave is doing what he can. And when he said he would just take it, then he is puffing, because he has no grounds to TAKE anything.
BUT, superstars renegotiate contracts all the time. In the entertainment industry, it is not unusual for an company to take a risk, the artist BLOW the fuck up and the company renegotiate the contract.
But again this gets to the essence of what Dave is asking, which is not that the company pay him because the contracts says so, but because it is the right thing to do. Companies don't have emotions though, but they will respond to consumer pressure, like not watching his show....which I will never do until he renegotiates....