EXCLUSIVE: The bitter, yearlong legal dispute between the WGA and UTA is officially over, with both sides filing papers in federal court to dismiss the antitrust lawsuits they’d filed against one another. The news comes days after the guild and agency closed a deal to phase out packaging and resume writer representation.
All that remains now is for U.S. District Court Judge Andre Birotte Jr. to grant their proposed dismissal of the case, which is considered a certainty.
The WGA had accused the agency of racketeering and price-fixing, while UTA had accused the guild of engaging in an illegal group boycott. As part of their stipulations, each side has agreed to pay their own costs, including attorneys’ fees.
The WGA and UTA announced that they would be dropping their suits on Wednesday after the agency agreed to sign the guild’s franchise agreement, which calls for a phasing-out of packaging fees and a limit on the agency’s ownership of affiliated production entities. The guild’s ongoing legal battle with WME and CAA continues, however, and is set for trial in March.
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