A very long behind-the-scenes soap opera drama has finally come to a close. The multi-million-dollar breach of contract lawsuit Prospect Park aimed at American Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) back in 2013 was dismissed on December 1 -- meaning ABC once again owns the rights to All My Children and One Life to Live.
As fans may recall, Prospect Park bought the rights to both daytime shows when ABC canceled the series in 2011. The production company kept the fan-favorite shows alive by giving them a home on the online network TOLN. However, during the two-year transition time and in the years following their 2013 online debut (and eventual cancellation shortly thereafter), major drama ensued.
Prospect Park launched a lawsuit against ABC in 2013 that claimed the network broke their licensing agreement, inked long-term agreements with OLTL actors to prevent them from appearing on the online version of the show, killed off OLTL characters only meant to be on loan to General Hospital, and deliberately attacked Prospect Park's efforts to continue AMC and OLTL online.
Furthermore, the licensing agreement ABC and Prospect Park first entered into in July 2011 gave Prospect Park exactly 12 months to put together online versions of the shows, after which the production company would be given the exclusive right to produce 15 seasons of each show. The agreement was amended in January 2012 to state that if Prospect Park didn't produce the shows for 18 straight months, the rights to both shows would revert back to ABC. Part of the lawsuit included Prospect Park fighting that amendment, mainly due to the fact that the company suspended both series after approximately 40 episodes online. In short, the lawsuit dismissal means ABC has officially regained the rights to AMC and OLTL.
"I can confirm that Prospect Park's lawsuit was dismissed yesterday, and ABC regained the rights to those shows," Susan Klein, an attorney with Valle Makoff LLP who represented ABC in the suit, tells Soap Central.
However, there's no cause for major celebration just yet. While ABC has regained the rights to both shows, there is no indication that the network plans to relaunch either series -- now or anytime in the future.
This story is still developing. Please check back for further updates and official comments if/when they occur.
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What do you think about Prospect Park's lawsuit against ABC being dismissed? Are you happy to hear ABC has regained the rights to AMC and OLTL? What do you think the network will do with the defunct shows, if anything, now that they have regained the rights? We want to hear from you -- so drop your comments in the Comments section below, tweet about it on Twitter, share it on Facebook, or chat about it on our Message Boards.
