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Original Message
"Is there cause for legal action?"
Posted by BrassFan on 11-04-03 at 12:51 PM
Just wondering about something...

Could Shawn, or anyone else who gets voted off from this point on (especially if an 'Outcast' is a swing vote) have grounds for a lawsuit against MB?

Let's assume they are given a copy of the rules for the game, and it specifies that a tribe member will be voted out every three days, and be eliminated from the game.

Well, wouldn't the fact that players being brought back in constitutes a violation of the rules be grounds for action?

I am sure there is a clause in the contract that specifies that the rules can be changed at any point, but MB made it clear that this was planned before the game started.

At the very least, if the players' handbooks say that a player voted off is eliminated from the game.....then the game was misrepresented to the players....

Just wondering.

Monte

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Messages in this discussion
"RE: Is there cause for legal action?"
Posted by Devious Weasel on 11-04-03 at 01:15 PM
Speaking as a former attorney, I imagine the contract is written tight enough to prevent such an action.

"RE: Is there cause for legal action?"
Posted by ExInterper on 11-04-03 at 01:33 PM
As a current law student whose memories of Contract Law class are still fairly intact, I agree. MB has been writing these contract for several seasons now, and if he can write good enough contracts to keep contestants from leaking too much info to the public before the game airs, then he can write a contract or rules of the game that wouldn't screw him either.

ExI
"Let's hope Osten doesn't smoke. He might decide to quit breathing." - Jims02, Ep 7a Summary

"RE: Is there cause for legal action?"
Posted by Loquatrix on 11-04-03 at 01:45 PM
As an ex-Law student whose memories of Contract Law are far from intact (grin) I would say that there are plenty of phrases like "at the discretion of the Producer" and "insofar as may be practicable" in the contract.

In the section of the contract that relates to the rules of play, I'd be relatively certain there is a disclaimer clause that permits the Producer to change things up whenever he feels like it, in the interests of the viewing public. I seriously doubt that he would paint himself into a corner by saying anything as specific as "one tribe member will be voted out every three days" or anything along those lines. Remember that any contract will be about limiting the contestant's "rights" rather than delineating and protecting them, because in the long term the production is what is important -- not the individuals taking part in it on any given occasion.

These are "cast members" rather than independent contractors with the production, and therefore there will be plenty of legal elbow room set aside for Burnett to change the "script" any time he likes, without consultation with the "cast."

"RE: Is there cause for legal action?"
Posted by BrassFan on 11-04-03 at 02:49 PM
>As an ex-Law student whose memories
>of Contract Law are far
>from intact (grin) I would
>say that there are plenty
>of phrases like "at the
>discretion of the Producer" and
>"insofar as may be practicable"
>in the contract.
>
>In the section of the contract
>that relates to the rules
>of play, I'd be relatively
>certain there is a disclaimer
>clause that permits the Producer
>to change things up whenever
>he feels like it, in
>the interests of the viewing
>public.


Thanks for all the replies....My main concern was that this is still a contest, and such contests must have rules distributed to the players, I'd assume.

The contract could have a clause that specifies they can change them at any time...but if they were misrepresented at the beginning (i.e. a reference to players being voted out as "eliminated"), someone might have grounds to sue. After all, this is a society that has some seriously frivilous lawsuits (suing for millions when your coffee is too hot, for example).

I do assume that MB would be smart enough to realize this possibility, and would have some type of "out" in the contract.

Thanks for all the well informed replies.

"RE: Is there cause for legal action?"
Posted by ExInterper on 11-04-03 at 02:52 PM
I'm pretty sure that the coffee case was a tort, which is a different monster than a contract case. Contract cases generally are governed by the the language of the contract unless one of the parties explicitly lies. My guess is MB just didn't mention the possibility, and the contestants assumed that nothing would change (a silly assumption based on previous seasons). In that case, MB probably has free reign.

ExI
"Let's hope Osten doesn't smoke. He might decide to quit breathing." - Jims02, Ep 7a Summary

"RE: Is there cause for legal action?"
Posted by BrassFan on 11-04-03 at 03:27 PM
>I'm pretty sure that the coffee
>case was a tort, which
>is a different monster than
>a contract case.

True...but it's still an example of a silly lawsuit ;)


>Contract cases generally are governed by
>the the language of the contract unless
>one of the parties explicitly lies.

That's what I was wondering about....if he planned this twist, and then said something different in the contract..

>My guess is MB just didn't mention the possibility,
>and the contestants assumed that nothing would change
>(a silly assumption based on previous seasons).

This is soooo true...


I guess what I'm wondering is....Is Survivor a contest? A Game Show? or entertainment?

If it's a contest or a game show, I'd assume that there would have to be very specific rules provided to the contestants about how the show would work, and how it would play out (to the extent of the basic framework of the show). Not to the point of telling them "this is what the challenges will be," but they must have some rules of play....

Heh...after all, walk into a McDonalds and ask for the rules for that Monopoly game they're playing....It's got about 20,000 pages of rules...even though we all know how to play it. ;) Interesting note...if a Canadian wins, they will have to correctly answer a mathematical question in order to claim their prize (apparently, random contests are regulated differently in Canada than trivia contests).

"RE: Is there cause for legal action?"
Posted by dabo on 11-04-03 at 03:33 PM
According to a trialdawg (Deena) post at Sucks, the contracts they sign are thicker than your average bear. Basically, I think MB is pretty much allowed to do whatever he wants as long as he conforms to federal broadcast regulations.