Breach Of Contract

Sitting in her wheelchair, frail and with failing eyesight, singer Peggy Lee hardly fits the image of a Hollywood giant killer. But when the 70-year-old Lee rolls her chair into Los Angeles Superior Court on Wednesday , she thinks she has a good chance of bringing the mammoth Walt Disney Co. to its knees, or at least to its checkbook. Lee is suing Disney for $50 million, charging breach of contract and unlawful enrichment over the videocassette release of "Lady and the Tramp."

The wise-cracking Chihuahua who earned millions for Taco Bell Corp. -- and some criticism from Latinos as an ethnic stereotype -- has a new slogan: "?Yo quiero mi dinero!" -- I want my money! A federal appeals court Friday ruled that Taco Bell is solely liable for $42 million in breach-of-contract awards to two Michigan men who created the diminutive mascot that starred in the Irvine fast-food giant's hit $500-million advertising campaign in the 1990s.

In Hollywood, movie deals involving millions of dollars are routinely made with a simple handshake. It's often the case that a film has been completed before the lawyers work out the details and the star signs a contract. This may be common in industry circles. But will it make sense to a jury of Los Angeles County residents? That's the question this week as actress Kim Basinger confronts charges that she backed out of a movie she allegedly had agreed to star in. Main Line Pictures Inc.

Actor Robin Williams, doing little to disguise his anger and pulling on an imaginary nose a la Pinocchio, accused the Walt Disney Co. Wednesday of lying to him and breaching an agreement not to use his voice to merchandise products inspired by the hit animated film "Aladdin."

Life is unpredictable. Folks fall in and out of love, find jobs and lose them ... and along the way, leases are broken. How do you break a lease without breaking the bank and losing your entire security deposit? Or your credit and credibility? By following the six Cs: * Contemplate. Sit down and assess the situation, looking at the big picture. If the cause is a lost job, honestly decide if you'll find another and how soon.

Doris Duke's adopted daughter has ended her fight to gain control of the late billionaire's fortune in exchange for a $65-million settlement from the estate. In a settlement signed Thursday by Manhattan Surrogate Court Judge Renee Roth, Chandi Duke Heffner, 42, dropped claims to the $1.2-billion estate and dropped a breach-of-contract suit contending that Duke reneged on a promise to support her for life, said Heffner's lawyer, David Keyko. Keyko said that $800,000 was paid to Heffner on Friday.

To hear TriStar Pictures tell it, the idea for the Academy Award-nominated screenplay for "Philadelphia" was developed in 1991, two years after director Jonathan Demme and screenwriter Ron Nyswaner first began brainstorming a movie about AIDS.

Debt-laden pop singer Michael Jackson reached a settlement over a breach-of-contract claim by New Jersey-based finance house Prescient Capital. Prescient sued Jackson and his MJ Publishing Trust in July 2005 for $48 million, alleging breach of contract after providing financial advice to Jackson and his various companies. The terms of the settlement were not disclosed in filings at the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.