LAWRENCE G. TOWNSEND (SBN 88184) LAW OFFICES OF LAWRENCE G. TOWNSEND One Concord Center 2300 Clayton Road. Suite I400 Concord. California 94520 Telephone: ?5.8823290 Facsimile: 4l5.882.3232 Email: ltownsend@owe.com Attorney for Plaintiff TERRENCE HOWARD SUPERIOR COURT OF CALIFORNIA COUNTY OF LOS ANGELES TERRENC HOWARD. an individual Case No. Plainli?'. COMPLAINT FOR BREACH vs. CONTRACT AND ACCOUNTING TWENTIETII CENTURY FOX FILM ORPORATION.. a Delaware corporation and DOES l-20 Defendants. Plaintiff. HOWARD, hereby allege as follows: NATU RE OF ACTION I. This is an action for breach of contract seeking an accounting and unpaid compensation due Plaintift'undcr his contract(s) with Defendant arising out of Defendant's use of Plaintiffs image prominently appearing in the logo for the television series Empire, and for damages caused to Plaintiff in the form of compensation that would have otherwise been paid to Plaintift'hy Paramount. the owner of the copyright in the film Hustle Flow that stan?ed Plaintiff. had Defendant not infringed the copyright in the film but rather had Defendant obtained a license from Paramount to use the image of Plaintiff from the ?lm to create the derivative work in the form of the Empire logo. JURISDICTION AND VENU 2. Jurisdiction and venue are proper in this court because the contract was entered into and performed in substantial part in Los Angeles County. and Defendant maintains its headquarters in this County. The Agreement also specifies his Angeles County state and federal courts as the exclusive jurisdiction and venue for any disputes. PARTIES 3. Plaintiff TERRENCE HOWARD. an individual. is a well-known film and television actor. singer and record producer 4. Defendant TWENTIETH CENTURY FOX FILM CORPORATION is a Delaware corporation with its principal place of business at I020l West Pieo Boulevard. Century City. alifomia (?Defendant?). 5. Plaintiff is infomted and believes and thereon alleges that Does to 20 are persons or entities responsible. with the other defendant?. for the liabilities herein described. but of whose identity or capacity Plaintiff is currently ignorant. Plaintiff will amend his complaint accordingly as their names and capacities are discovered. PRELIMINARY ALLEGATIONS 6. On or about February I4. 2014 Plaintiff and Defendant entered into a written agreement for ?Pilot and Series Options" for the Empire Series (?Series?) that first aired in January 20 5. It included and incorporated by reference ?Fox's Standard Terms? and which. taken together with renewals thereof, shall be refened as the ?Agreement.? The series was terminated after six remarkably successful seasons. with the last episode airing in April 2020. 7. When presenting. promoting. and branding the Series. Defendant developed and used from inception a logo for the show (?Logo?) that was used ubiquitously for anything connected with the show: to The image was of Plaintilfand did not. in and v! Itaclf. Lane a question. The Agreement granted all rights to Plaintil name and likeness to iuiant in connection the Series. Specifically. for example. the Agree int nt also stated: Player consents to the of Plil}'Cl I amine. .iiec, likeness- (ilclual or simulated ii' charactei .wlv in or me Promotional Footage) and biography in merehandasi-w. The A ;.~ment also stated: Play mnsents tn the use of Player?s name. voiee. likeness (actual or ii . Haraeter only in or from the Promotional Footage). ?.ufmcet. with respect to publicity and promotional uses. It- Player?s ups oval Thus. although the Agrqemcnt dio giant and promotional uses to Defendant. but only if Dex-m1 H-l wieht and Obltt?l?a approxal rights to images Used. the Agreement did not however pemii: tsiz-eet endorsement o; goods and sen iees other than the Series. 'om time to time Defendant provided royalty payments for income derived from sale: Hi merchandise hut such payments did not pro\ ide an}- elear indication ofthe merchandise for which .I was paid or in what quantity. l. Having no way ofknowing how and whether Plaintiff was paid under the Agreemei :or various uses ofhis name and image. Plaintiffinqurred of Defendant in EM 5' 'u "m he was being paid agreed royalties for uses ofthe Logo on merchandise and for other "a uses. He did not receive a clear answer. Plaintiff then asked who the graphic artist was that designed the Logo. This was a reasonable question since no photo session ltad ever been conducted for purposes of developing 21 Logo. Plainti?' was told that Defendant either did not know the identity of the graphic anist or could not locate that information ll. With reason to be concerned. Plaintiff thereupon undertook his on tm esttgation about how the Logo may have been developed and ht information it was inexplicably unavailable. In the course ofl?latntifl?s investigation. it became Llear that the tmage of Plaintiff used for the Logo was derived from a still shot (a precise from the P.u.imount motion picture Hustle Flow. taken from the recording-session scene here the movie's theme song. "It's Hard Out Here For A Pimp." is sung The still frame was selected. reversed (face looking left. not right). and subjected to that simplv distilled the einematographer?s skilled capture of the head with vibrant light and shadow. A sale by side comparison shows: 13. Based on the events of 2018 and going forward. the lack of infonnation provided by Defendant in roponse to Plaintiffs inquiry. and the receipt of opaque royalty payments for merchandise. Plaintiff is infonned and believes and thereon alleges that he has not been paid fully for uses of his name or image. including uses of the Logo containing his image. on or in connection with merchandise. endorsements. and other compensable uses. H. In addition. Plaintiff is informed and believes and thereon alleges that he has been damaged in the form of compensation he should have and would have been paid by Paramount for use of the image. had a proper copyright license been obtained from Paramount that would have resulted in payments to Plainti?' for the use of his image. FIRST CAUSE OF ACTION Breach of Contract 15. Plaintiff realleges and incorporates by reference paragraphs I through l-l above as though fully set forth herein. Plaintiff and Defendant entered into the Agreement as set forth herein. l7. Plaintiff has performed all obligations he had under the Agreement. Defendant breached the Agreement as set forth above. 19. As a result of said breach of contract. Plaintiff has been damaged as set forth above in an amount to be proven at trial. SECOND OF ACTION Accounting 20. Plaintiff renlleges and incorporates by reference paragraphs I through l9 above as though fully set forth herein. By virtue of the Agreement and the many transactions in the books and records of Defendant detailing the different merchandise items using Plaintiffs image andfor the Logo. as well as other uses of the Logo. Plaintiff has no means of ascertaining the compensation to which he is owed. 22. As a result. Plaintiff seeks an accounting of Defendant?s books and records to determine the full sum he is owed by Defendant under the Agreement. PRAYER FOR RELIEF Plaintiff respectfully requests: 1. An accounting of Defendant's books and records as set forth above: IQ Damages according to proof: 3. Costs of suit: and M8UN Such other and further relief as the court proper. Dated: October 2020 Law Of?ces of G. Townsend 4,4422 Lawrence G. Townsend for Plaintiff HOWARD