Suits Seek To Reveal FreebiesGiven to Film Critics

Ten identical proposed class actions have been filed against the major film studios for allegedly giving perks to reviewers who endorse their movies and then failing to reveal that fact in the ads that quote the reviews.

“Defendants had an affirmative obligation to reveal” these facts, said the suits filed in Los Angeles Superior Court on behalf of four individuals and a group called Citizens for Truth in Movie Advertising. “Defendants knew or should have known that failing to disclose (reviewer perks) would deceive plaintiffs and plaintiff class members regarding the nature and/or integrity of the endorsements.”

The suits note an industry practice of providing and paying for private screenings and “press junkets” for reviewers.  Among the expenses paid by studios are transportation, hotel accommodations and meals, the suit said.

Reviewers have also allegedly received t-shirts, hats, coffee mugs, books, magazines, photographs, mouse pads, and celebrity autographs. The studios also arrange celebrity interviews for reviewers, the suit said.

The complaints, that purport to represent a class of moviegoers who relied at least in part on endorsements quoted in ads, seek unspecified damages, an injunction against the allegedly deceptive practice, and an order requiring corrective advertising.

Defendants included Lions Gate Entertainment, Inc., Lions Gate Films, Inc., Dreamworks, Inc., Dreamworks Films, LLC, Dreamworks Distribution LLC, Dreamworks LLC, Walt Disney Company, Walt Disney Pictures and Television, Buena Vista Entertainment, Inc., Buena Vista Productions; Touchstone Pictures, Music & Songs, Inc., Hollywood Pictures Corp., Miramax Film Corp., Miramax Productions, Inc., Vivendi Universal US Holding Co., Universal Studios Entertainment, Inc., Universal Pictures Company, Inc., Polygram Pictures, Inc., Polygram Filmed Entertainment, Inc., Polygram Filmed Entertainment Distribution, Inc., October Films, Inc., Imagine Films Entertainment, Inc., Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Inc., United Artists Corp., Orion Pictures Corp., AOL Time Warner Inc., Time Warner Companies, Inc., Warner Brothers Pictures, Inc., New Line Cinema Corp., Fine Line Productions, Castle Rock Entertainment,Inc., Fox Entertainment Group, Inc., Twentieth Century Fox Film Corp., Fox Searchlight Pictures, Inc., Viacom, Inc., Paramount Pictures Corp., Artisan Entertainment, Inc., Sony Corporation of America, Sony Pictures Entertainment Inc., Columbia Pictures Industries, Inc., Columbia TriStar Film Distributors International, Inc., and Screen Gems, Inc.

The suits were filed by Yukevich & Sonnett.