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Legal Woes Continue As The CROW Remake Heads To Arbitration

Legal battles for the Crow continue to wage on. It seems as if both parties involved, The Weinstein Compnay (TWC) and Ryan Kavanaugh's Relativity are now heading to arbitration. According to the Hollywood Reporter, Relativity was granted the right to arbitrate the case by a Supreme Court judge in LA, because of a clause that was in the contract at issue.

This whole mess first started back in April when The Weinstein Co. claimed that Relativity had breached a 2009 distribution agreement that they gned giving them excluve worldwide distribution rights, Harvey Weinstein was upset that Kavanaugh intended to break this contract by distributing the film without their say.

Relativity Media retaliated by issuing a statement of their own accung the Weinsteins of 'intimidation.' Apparently they felt that Weinstein wasn't was able to commit money to the release of the Crow, forcing them to look elsewhere.

Pictured Left: Harvey Weinstein Pictured Right: Ryan Kavanaugh

Relativity and its lead lawyer Carol Genis issued a statement gloating about the decion today;

Relativity Media prevailed over The Weinstein Company in court today. The Court agreed with Relativity that TWC's lawsuit against Relativity was improper and violated the parties' arbitration agreement. TWC must now defend itself in the ongoing arbitration proceeding filed by Relativity.

In that proceeding, Relativity claims damages in excess of $20 million against TWC for its egregious mishandling of the movie Nine and seeks rescison of the parties' agreement with respect to The Crow. Today's ruling demonstrates that TWC's efforts to misuse the court system as a means of intimidation against Relativity failed. Relativity expects to prevail on all of its claims against TWC in arbitration.

Bert Fields, lawyer of the Weinsteins had this to say:

"Relativity has attempted to distort a garden variety procedural motion into something it was not. They should be ashamed of themselves. Today's hearing was completely procedural. At issue was an ambiguous provion in a contact which made it unclear whetherTWC's injunction claim against Relativity should be heard in court or in an arbitration. The Court acknowledged that the provion was not amodel of clarity and further suggested that it was a close question as to whether arbitration or litigation was the appropriate forum. There was no misuse or abuse of the system. The Court said nothing remotely like that. Any suggestion by Relativity to the contrary is patently false. Relativity's gratuitous attacks on the motives of TWC and its counsel are both unprofesonal and grossly inaccurate."

It seems as if things are going to be getting even uglier as the battle wages on.

Source: THR