Soap opera buffs have no doubt heard the recent news that two long-running soaps, All My Children and One Life to Live, are back.  However, recently there has been a bit of “drama” going on behind the scenes that has resulted in Prospect Park filing a lawsuit against ABC for breach of contract.  According to news reports, ABC is being sued to the tune of $25 million for damages.  ABC allegedly borrowed characters from One Life to Live, and killed off two characters from All My Children, ultimately going beyond the parameters of the two companies’ agreement.

Before making any dramatic adjustments to storylines, ABC was to review these changes with and get approval from Prospect Park.  Additionally, ABC reportedly will not release URLs for the two soaps which is preventing Prospect Park from giving fans of the shows an opportunity to watch the soaps online before their re-launch.  The production company says that avid fans should not worry whether the re-launch of the programs will be delayed, however what’s on the mind of many people is why ABC has given the production company such a hard time.  Prospect Park believes that the television network is hoping to see the production company fail in the re-launch of the two popular soap dramas.

According to the Huffington Post, tension has been mounting for quite some time between ABC and Prospect, who contends that the production company gave permission to ABC to “borrow” characters from One Life to Live who would appear on General Hospital for a limited time.  The gist of the story was that these seven actors would be able to remain employed by portraying characters on GH while Prospect was ramping up for production of the online versions of AMC and OLTL.  Ultimately, Prospect Park is suing for breach of contract, saying that they did not get what they paid for, and that ABC did not deliver on their promise, that the television network engaged in egregious conduct.  It has also been alleged that ABC failed to transfer ownership of Allmychildren.com and Onelifetolive.com to Prospect.

As skilled Los Angeles business attorneys, we can only imagine how dramatic this lawsuit is likely to be; how it turns out is sure to be of interest to many.  We urge companies involved in contract disputes to contact our business law attorneys today for exceptional legal guidance and representation.