HFPA, DICK CLARK PRODUCTIONS IN BITTER FALLING-OUT

In a rather bitter falling-out, the Hollywood Foreign Press Association has filed a federal lawsuit accusing Dick Clark Productions of trying to misappropriate the rights to the annual Golden Globes Awards show. The HFPA, which has long partnered with Clark’s company in the production of the Golden Globes, claims in its lawsuit that Clark recently signed a new eight-year deal with NBC for the Globes “surreptitiously” — that is, without consulting it. The group also asks the court to issue an injunction preventing the Clark company from making any further use of the Golden Globes name or trademark. In response, Dick Clark Productions said, “The Hollywood Foreign Press Association, knowing it has no case in a court of law, is attempting to try this case in the court of public opinion. We are confident the case has no merit in either venue. … The HFPA cannot unilaterally change the basis on which DCP and the HFPA have done business for almost three decades.”