WWE Royalty Lawsuit – Raven joins Buff Bagwell in amended Network lawsuit against WWE

By James Caldwell, PWTorch assistant editor


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WWE Network Royalty Lawsuit Updates – September 2016

Buff Bagwell & Raven (Scott Levy) vs. WWE

September 7 Update: Attorneys for Buff Bagwell filed an amended class action complaint against WWE, adding former WWE/WCW/ECW wrestler Raven (Scott Levy) to the lawsuit as a plaintiff.

Bagwell and Levy, “individually and on behalf of all other similarly situated,” allege that they “have not received contractually owed royalty payments from WWE” for WCW-related content that has been sold or licensed through WWE Network.

Bagwell and Levy also allege non-payment “of all categories of royalties within 90 days following the end of the fiscal quarter.”

In total, the Plaintiffs allege that total claims of the individuals in the Class action lawsuit “are in excess of $5.0 million in the aggregate.” Also, the total number of wrestlers in the proposed class is “greater than 100.”

Levy’s 2000s-era contract was included in the lawsuit, which includes the royalty item “other technology, including technology not yet created” that is the source of contention for former WWE wrestlers who signed booking contracts with that clause.

Specific to Levy, the amended complaint noted that WWE paid Levy a royalty for DVD sales of Paul Heyman’s recent home video release, but not a royalty for airing the same product on WWE Network.

The amended complaint in the U.S. District Court of Connecticut lists 15 items for relief and seeks a jury trial on behalf of Bagwell, Levy, and other wrestlers similarly situated in the Class, if certified by the court.

The attorneys filed a separate document motioning for the class to be certified by the court. The document identifies the parameters and guidelines for wrestlers to be considered in the class along with Bagwell & Levy who allege they are owed royalties on WWE Network content.

WWE has until September 28 to respond to the amended complaint from Bagwell and now Levy, as well as the latest motion to certify the class.

READ MORE: Original Report on Bagwell’s lawsuit against WWE in August.

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