Uni Re-exposed: Appeals Court Sides With Writer

The California Court of Appeal has affirmed a lower court's judgment that in 1994 ordered Universal City Studios and MCA to pay writer and producer Sandy Veith $7.3 million in damages stemming from a dispute over who created the hit TV show "Northern Exposure."

Three years ago, a Los Angeles Superior Court jury found that "Northern Exposure" was based on a teleplay Veith had written in 1981, and it ordered MCA and co-defendant Universal to pay him $7.3 million in damages.

MCA and Universal appealed, but Friday, the California Court of Appeal affirmed the judgment.

"This is a tremendous victory for Sandy and for every other writer who has been in his position," said Veith's attorney, Glen Kulik. "There is no way to adequately describe how difficult it is to endure the endless delays and to litigate against an adversary with all the resources on its side. Universal could have settled this case before trial for pennies compared with what it is now likely to cost them. Even to this date, they have never made a single settlement offer."

Steven Drapkin, an attorney for Universal, declined comment. Universal, however, is expected to appeal to the California Supreme Court. A spokeswoman for Universal also declined comment.

Kulik said that with interest, the judgment against Universal now totals nearly $10 million.

Veith, who had been under contract to Universal in 1981, wrote a teleplay called "Colletta" for Universal that was never produced. His teleplay featured a young doctor who took up practice in a small Southern town in order to pay off his medical school bills. "Northern Exposure" took place in a small town in Alaska.

After a six-week trial, jurors found that there were enough similarities in the story and characters to conclude that MCA and Universal had breached their contract with Veith -- a contract that provided that Veith would be paid for any shows they produced that were based on stories he had written for them.

Josh Brand and John Falsey, the credited creators of "Northern Exposure," were not named as defendants in the suit.

After the original verdict came in three years ago, Universal attorney Lou Petrich said, "The jury told us that they found that 'Northern Exposure' creators Josh Brand and John Falsey didn't do anything wrong, but speculated that something that was in Veith's script got into 'Northern Exposure,' and that it was up to the defendants to disprove that."