A Superior Court judge in California has issued an order that will allow Vivid Entertainment Group to go forward with their lawsuit against Playboy Enterprises.
Superior Court Judge Ralph W. Dau ruled in the case, filed in April, in which Vivid has alleged that Playboy violated terms of a 10-year film output agreement for broadcast of Vivid films on cable TV networks, including the Playboy Channel, and as part of video on demand adult television packages.
For Playboy’s part in the lawsuit, VP of Corporate Communications for Playboy Enterprises, Linda Marsicano, told AVN.com, “I can confirm that Playboy and Vivid are involved in a dispute regarding a contractual agreement. We do not believe Vivid’s position on this matter has merit nor do we anticipate their claim will have a negative financial consequence for Playboy.
“The ruling was regarding a procedural issue and was not a ruling on the merits of the case. That is all we can say at this time given this issue is in litigation.”
“This is the first victory in a lawsuit that will show that Playboy did not pay us what they owed us and did not keep proper records,” said Bill Asher, co-chairman of Vivid Entertainment. “The judge’s action means that we can proceed to sue for recovery of amounts owed us as well for damages. The suit will affirm that we had the right to terminate an agreement that Playboy has violated and we are now free to negotiate with third parties and to compete with Playboy.
“We anticipate that the eventual result of this lawsuit could be worth tens of millions of dollars to Vivid and we are looking forward to proceeding to the discovery phase.”
Asher said Vivid will vigorously press its original suit, which alleges Playboy failed to pay significant amounts mandated by agreements that were part of Playboy’s purchase of three cable TV networks from Vivid in 2001.
