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The Moving Arts Film Journal

Disney Loses ‘Who Wants to Be a Millionaire?’ Case, Vows to Appeal

By
July 7, 2010

LAKE BUENA VISTA, FL - NOVEMBER 9:  Meredith Vieira (R), host of the 'Super Soap Special Edition' of 'Who Wants To Be A Millionaire',  talks with (L to R) All My Children's Eva La Rue, the contestant Tom and All My Children's John Callahan during ABC's Super Soap Weekend at Disney's MGM Studios November 9, 2002 in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.  (Photo By Matt Stroshane/Getty Images)Disney was wrong. That’s what a jury decided today finally ending a years long $250 million “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?” lawsuit brought against Disney by the show’s creator, Celador International.

The jury found that Celador was wronged by a string of slippery inside deals by Disney, ABC, Buena Vista Television and Valleycrest Productions that left the “Millionaire” creators short hundreds of millions in expected revenues when the hit show came to America in 1999.

Immediately, the Walt Disney Company issued this statement: “We believe this verdict is fundamentally wrong and will aggressively seek to have it reversed.”

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