‘Spinal Tap’ Legal Battle May Not Go All the Way to 11

(Bloomberg) -- The creators of “This is Spinal Tap” and Vivendi SA’s Universal Music Group are close to settling a fight over profits from the 1984 cult classic.

“The parties appear to have reached a resolution in principle of the single remaining issue, subject to completing the documentation,” lawyers for the artists and UMG said in a filing Friday in federal court in Los Angeles. They said they expect to wrap up the settlement by Nov. 11.

UMG has the rights to the soundtrack of “Spinal Tap.” Another Vivendi entity, StudioCanal, which was also sued, owns the rights to the movie. The filing didn’t mention an imminent agreement between the “Spinal Tap” creators and StudioCanal.

A federal judge last year allowed fraud claims by actor/comedian Harry Shearer and the other creators of the mockumentary to proceed. In their lawsuit, they asked for $400 million in damages. After last year’s ruling, the artists and the companies put the lawsuit on hold so they could pursue a mediated settlement.

To contact the reporter on this story: Edvard Pettersson in Los Angeles at epettersson@bloomberg.net

To contact the editors responsible for this story: David Glovin at dglovin@bloomberg.net, Joe Schneider

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