Records Unsealed in Disney-Talent Agency Case

A state court of appeal this week unsealed some records in a 4-year-old case brought by a West Hollywood talent agency that alleges Walt Disney Co. cheated it out of more than $2 million in commissions from the popular ABC sitcom “Home Improvement.”

The case has been sealed since 1998, when Disney attorneys successfully argued that details of negotiations with its ABC Television division were “highly confidential and proprietary information.”

But in a July 27 opinion, a three-judge panel of the 2nd Appellate District in Los Angeles ordered the judge overseeing the case to review all of the documents to see which ones should be unsealed. The panel issued a subsequent order Tuesday, opening 13 documents in the case including the initial lawsuit, court orders and transcripts of court hearings.

Disney officials said in a statement Thursday they prevailed in much of the case. A Los Angeles Superior Court judge found the Burbank entertainment giant did not breach its contract with the Agency for the Performing Arts. However, the appeals court reversed a judge’s ruling that Disney had paid the agency its full commissions for seven of the eight years of “Home Improvement.”

The dispute over commissions probably will go to trial.

Diana Greene Gordon, a Santa Monica attorney representing APA, also claimed victory.

The rulings “mean that Disney is no longer entitled to keep its business confidential or to have secret trials,” Gordon said. APA sued Disney on behalf of one of the show’s creators, Matt Williams, and his production company.

The panel reviewed whether it should keep the “Home Improvement” case under seal after Roger M. Grace, editor of the Metropolitan News Co., sent a letter to the justices in early July asking for the documents to be opened. In a column published Thursday, Grace said the secrecy surrounding the case was “an egregious affront to the public’s right to know.”