Seinfeld's 'Cars' lawsuit is totaled by judge
Netflix streaming rights to 'Seinfeld' start in 2021.
In the episode of his classic comedy, "Seinfeld," titled "The Opposite" star Jerry Seinfeld exclaims "It never fails! I always even out! "
And now it has happened again!
Monday Seinfeld, won his copyright battle against a former collaborator who claimed he had conceived the idea for “Comedians in Cars Getting Coffee.”
Christian Charles, according to Judge Alison Nathan's ruling, said that Charles, "allegedly suggested to Seinfeld that he should create a television show based on the concept of two friends talking and driving. Charles produced a treatment of the show, but Seinfeld ultimately decided not to proceed with the project."
Years later Seinfeld began developing "Comedians in Cars," which debuted on Crackle and then moved to Netflix. Charles worked on the video shorts initially, but he and Seinfeld had a dispute over a deal to participate on a work-for-hire basis or as a co-owner of the series.
Charles filed the suit in 2017, this despite — as Seinfeld's attorneys pointed out — that Charles released any claims against Seinfeld in 2012, when he agreed to be paid $107,734.41 for his work on the show.
Judge Natan dismissed the suit on the statute of limitation grounds noting that because "Charles was on notice that his ownership claim had been repudiated since at least 2012, his infringement claim is time-barred. His joint authorship claim is also time-barred for the same reasons."