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Vivendi bought the rights to the film about a rock band in
1989 but has not paid Shearer, who plays bassist Derek Smalls,
or his three Spinal Tap co-creators their rightful dues,
according to the complaint, filed in a Los Angeles court.
Vivendi declined to comment.
Despite having generated millions of dollars in revenue, the
complaint said, Vivendi reported soundtrack sales of just $98
between 1989 and 2006, and calculated the four creators' share
of total merchandising income between 1984 and 2006 at $81.
“This is a simple issue of artists’ rights,” said Shearer, 72,
who voices 23 Simpsons characters, including Ned Flanders and Mr
Burns.
He accuses Vivendi and its subsidiaries StudioCanal and
Universal Music Group of unfair business practices and
fraudulent accounting.
"... the only people who haven’t shared Spinal Tap’s success are
those who formed the band and created the film in the first
place,” he said in the complaint.
(Reporting by Mathieu Rosemain and Gwenaelle Barzic; Editing by
Louise Ireland)
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