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California Appeals Court Rules on Anti-SLAPP Motion In Battle Over Dueling TV Show Proposals

By Stan Soocher
January 01, 2022

State "anti-SLAPP" statutes offer a fertile avenue for motions to strike allegations in lawsuits filed over expressive content. These laws are aimed at allowing a defendant to file a motion to strike a "Strategic Lawsuit Against Public Participation," such as those based on public comments and content issued by a defendant. The most-recent significant anti-SLAPP court decision involving the entertainment industry was issued in December 2021 by the California Court of Appeal in Musero v. Creative Artists Agency (CAA), B305066.

This case arose out of a lawsuit filed in Los Angeles Superior Court by script writer John Musero, a former prosecutor and studio lawyer, against his former CAA talent agents. Musero's complaint alleged, among other things, that defendants misappropriated his proposal for a TV series named Main Justice, about a female U.S. attorney general, by providing another CAA client with "resource" material from Musero's proposal for the development of a pilot for a CBS series also named Main Justice based on Eric Holder, the first Black US. Attorney General, though CBS didn't pick up the show.

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