Mike Jacobs, Jr. William Webb, Individuals Westwind Releasing Corp., a California Corporation, and Michael Givens v. CBS Broadcasting Inc.

Plaintiffs Mike Jacobs, Jr., William Webb, and Westwind Releasing Corporation filed this action against Defendant CBS Broadcasting, Inc., alleging that CBS had breached a contract to give Plaintiffs production credit when it produced a television series called Early Edition. The district court granted summary judgment to CBS on the ground that an earlier nonjudicial proceeding precluded Plaintiffs from bringing their claim to court. We reverse because that nonjudicial proceeding was too informal to have preclusive effect.

FACTUAL AND PROCEDURAL BACKGROUND

Michael Givens is a script writer and a member of the Writers’ Guild of America (WGA). Givens wrote a script titled The Fourth Estate a/k/a/ Final Edition (.Final Edition). Westwind optioned Final Edition for the purpose of securing a television broadcast commitment from a network, Under the agreement between Givens and Westwind, any writing credit to be accorded Givens was to be determined pursuant to the WGA’s Minimum Basic Agreement (MBA) credit-determination procedures. Givens was entitled to additional compensation under the contract only if the WGA awarded him a “written by” or “screenplay by” credit.

CBS later…