Varuna Entertainment v. Ball CA2/2

I. Facts

A. Parties Plaintiffs are Varuna Entertainment, Inc. (Varuna), which creates and produces television shows and films, and its owner, Ali Bazzy (Bazzy) (collectively plaintiffs). Defendants are Prema Ball (Ball), who worked for Varuna as an independent contractor, and Kick Punch Studios FMV, LLC, also known as Skip Film(s) (collectively defendants). B. Reality Television Show In 2003, Varuna hired Ball under a written work made for hire contract. That meant Varuna owned all of Ball’s work product and all rights. The contract was renewed annually through June 28, 2011. In 2009, Ball began developing for Varuna a reality television show entitled Gold Divers. The show was to feature

2 gold miners and off-shore gold mining on the coast of Alaska. Ball researched the concept, contacted and interviewed miners, and visited Alaska. Jason Morgan (Morgan), who co-owned Varuna at the time, worked with Ball to develop Gold Divers.1 Ball wished to go into business for himself. In “approximately 2012,” Ball left Varuna and secretly made off with Gold Divers’s electronic and hard copy development file. Without apprising Varuna, Ball sold the development file to the Discovery…