Understanding Contract Dissolution vs Expiration

[lclay]

My jurisdiction is: Los Angeles, CA

I am a television writer/producer and last year I signed an option agreement with a production company to produce a show I created. They submitted it to a few networks and got nowhere so as of this past month, they wrote me an email saying that they were dissolving the agreement.even though technically they still had about three months remaining before the agreement expired.

Also in the agreement was a clause that said, if the contract expires, and I get a deal with any company they presented the project to for up to 1 year, then the agreement still holds. So my question is, since they `dissolved' the agreement instead of the option expiring, does this clause still hold?

I would really appreciate your help with answering this. Look forward to your reply.

Thanks,

 

[Michael Wechsler]

What does your contract say about voluntary termination of the agreement? My guess is that you should look at the clause that talks about "survives" the agreement which means it is active for a peiod of time even after termination or expiration. See if this exists.

 

[lclay]

RE: Understanding Contract Dissolution vs. Expiraton

Thank you `The LawProfessor' for your response. There is no clause in the agreement that speaks to voluntary termination or `surviving' the agreement so what happens in that case?

 

[Michael Wechsler]

You need to look at what the terms are for the contract if it "expires" - what is the definition? What is the actual wording? If it says "expires" then it's arguable they have no claim. What you can do is confirm with them that you accept their voluntary termination of the agreement in its entirety and thank them for working together. IF they don't say anything, I'd say it's difficult for them to make any further claim. However, most of this determination is all about the wording.