Very Live Lawsuit Claims AMC Stole 'The Walking Dead's' Producers' Money

The show that just won't die, starring people that won't just die, is facing legal claims that yes, probably will not just die. Former Walking Dead series producers Gale Anne Hurd, Glen Mazzara and David Alpert, along with co-creator Robert Kirkman, are suing AMC, claiming the studio and network conspired to set the show's licensing fees, in essence capping the profits producers, writers and actors could make.

So how do these fees work, and why are at the center of a potential $1 billion lawsuit?

The Undead Dispute

If you listen to AMC, these kinds of lawsuits are like a pack of zombies, forever emerging from the darkened periphery. "These kinds of lawsuits are fairly common in entertainment and they all have one thing in common -- they follow success," the network told the Washington Post. "Virtually every studio that has had a successful show has been the target of litigation like this, and 'The Walking Dead' has been the #1 show on television for five years in a row, so this is no surprise."

While it's true that lawsuits often follow the money, where that money is and the way it changed hands in this case is actually a fairly new phenomenon. While networks used to pay a licensee fee to studios to air their shows, recent regulatory changes have allowed networks to own their own studios, allowing the payment of licensing fees to essentially be "changing pockets in the same pair of pants," as the lawsuit put it. And since the talent -- writers, actors, producers, etc. -- are paid based on the licensing fee, AMC Studios giving AMC Network a sweetheart deal on licensing fees means less money for the talent.

"The defendant AMC Entities exploited their vertically integrated corporate structure to combine both the production and the exhibition of TWD," the lawsuit claims, "which allowed AMC to keep the lion's share of the series' enormous profits for itself and not share it with the Plaintiffs, as required by their contracts."

Brains!

Given that networked-owned studios (or studio-owned networks) are on the rise, expect even more licensing fee lawsuits. Even if this one is settled out of court, it could have enormous ramifications not just for The Walking Dead's financial and creative talent, but for those involved in other shows as well.

Related Resources:

• 'Walking Dead' Producers Claim Massive AMC Profits Scam in New Lawsuit (The Hollywood Reporter)
• The War on Zombie Christmas: Undead Nativity Scene Vandalized (FindLaw's Legally Weird)
• Why Is Kansas Preparing for a Zombie Apocalypse? (FindLaw's Legal Grounds)
• The 10 Most Pirated TV Shows of 2013 (FindLaw's Law and Daily Life)