'This Is Spinal Tap' Stars Join Harry Shearer's Multimillion Dollar Lawsuit Over Film Profits

The stars and co-creators of seminal 1984 mockumentary This Is Spinal Tap have joined their fellow cast member and co-creator, legendary comedian and voice actor Harry Shearer, in a multimillion-dollar lawsuit against the film's rights holders, French company Vivendi.

As reported by The Guardian, Shearer's original lawsuit was filed in October last year, seeking punitive and compensatory damages to the tune of $US125 million (about $164 million); however, the inclusion in the suit of actors Christopher Guest and Michael McKean as well as director/narrator Rob Reiner has seen the collective potential damages rise to $US400 million.

Along with Vivendi, its subsidiaries StudioCanal and StudioCanal Image, as well as StudioCanal executive vice-president Ron Halpern, are listed as defendants in the case, which bases its complaint on — among other alleged behaviours — breach of contract, breach of the implied covenant of good faith and fair dealing and fraud.

Filed under the name of Shearer's company, Century Of Progress Productions, the complaint, which is being handled by the Central District Court of California, asserts that Vivendi — incidentally, also Universal Music's parent company and the rights holders of This Is Spinal Tap since 1989 — have deliberately misrepresented profits made from the ongoing sale and licensing of the movie to the creators, and its cast and crew.

According to The Guardian, Guest described Vivendi's tactics as "deliberate obfuscation", asserting, "It is vital that such behaviour is challenged in the strongest way possible." Meanwhile, McKean said, "It's time for a reckoning. It's only right."

Reiner even evoked one of the movie's famous scenes in his statement, concluding: "Such anti-competitive practices need to be exposed. I am hoping this lawsuit goes to 11."

At the time of filing, Shearer had described the case as "a simple issue of artists' rights", with his complaint alleging that Vivendi claimed the film's soundtrack sales totalled $98 between 1989 and 2006, while the creators are also alleged to have received only $81 from the movie's total worldwide merchandise income between 1984 and 2006.

Shearer's 17-page complaint also asserted that Vivendi, upon taking over the film rights from previous holders Embassy Pictures, had wilfully under-reported This Is Spinal Tap's revenue in order to avoid its obligations under an existing agreement struck with Embassy that had promised 40% of the movie's entire net revenue streams to the film's cast and crew.

"It is stunning that after all this time, two cinema releases, all the various home-video format releases, all the records and CDs, and all the band-themed merchandise still widely available worldwide, the only people who haven’t shared Spinal Tap’s success are those who formed the band and created the film in the first place," he said.