Fellow stars join Harry Shearer's royalties fight

The rest of Spinal Tap have joined Harry Shearer in his legal fight for a share of the profits from the hit 1984 movie.

Co-stars Christopher Guest and Michael McKean, director Rob Reiner and their company Spinal Tap Productions have leapt on to the lawsuit against Vivendi.

When Shearer sued in October, he claimed that in the first 22 years after the mockumentary's 1984 release, the Spinal Tap band received just $81 (£66) in merchandising income and $98 from music sales.

He originally sought $125 million from Vivendi, but with the new plaintiffs, the potential bill has soared to $400 million.

The suit claims the French media giant ‘abused the corporate form’ to defraud the comedy band, citing unfair accounting practice and shoddy record-keeping, as well as failing to fully exploit revenue streams. 

Vivendi have not yet responded to the claims.

In a statement today, Guest, who played lead guitarist Nigel Tufnel, said: ‘The deliberate obfuscation by Vivendi and its subsidiaries is an outrage. It is vital that such behaviour is challenged in the strongest way possible.’

Reiner adds: ‘What makes this case so egregious is the prolonged and deliberate concealment of profit and the purposeful manipulation of revenue allocation between various Vivendi subsidiaries – to the detriment of the creative talent behind the band and film. Such anti-competitive practices need to be exposed. I am hoping this lawsuit goes to 11.’

Shearer welcomed his co-creators’ decision to join his fight, saying: ‘Their participation will help demonstrate the opaque and misleading conduct at the heart of this case. We’re even louder now.’

The film cost just  $2.25 million to make, but the lawsuit alleges that it made millions of dollars across various revenue streams for Vivendi, its subsidiary companies, and their licensees.

The original contract signed by Reiner, Shearer, Guest, and McKean promised them a 40 percent share of net receipts across all sources of revenue, including merchandise and music.

McKean, who was lead vocalist and rhythm guitarist David St Hubbins, added: ‘This is Spinal Tap was the result of four very stubborn guys working very hard to create something new under the sun. 

‘The movie’s influence on the last three decades of film comedy is something we are very proud of. But the buck always stopped somewhere short of Rob, Harry, Chris and myself. It’s time for a reckoning.’

Published: 8 Feb 2017