The Artful Jurist

The Associated Press reports that a judge has ordered author Clive Cussler, who wrote the novel, Sahara, to pay almost $14 million dollars in legal fees to the motion picture company that made the film version of the book.

Originally, Cussler sued Crusader Entertainment over a dispute involving Cussler’s contractual right to have approval of the final cut. Crusader turned around and sued the author, claiming he overstated the novel’s sales when the film adaptation idea was pitched to the company, thus, causing Crusader to overpay. Apparently, the court bought the latter argument, and, according to the contract’s provisions for breach, ordered Cussler to pay up.

I suppose we should all take this as a lesson in what not to do when pitching that movie deal. While a certain amount of puffing might be considered standard operating procedure for pitching and negotiating deals, outright falsehoods can get you a world of hurt.

It almost goes without saying that contract negotiations require good faith dealing. The courts won’t back you up if the only reason you were able to lure someone into a deal is because you deliberately provided misinformation. There’s a reliance factor in contract law. Violate it and pay the price. Just ask Mr. Cussler.