David Simon Drops Individual Claims in WGA Lawsuit Against Agencies

“The Wire” creator David Simon has dropped his individual claims against Creative Artists Agency in the Writers Guild of America lawsuit against top Hollywood agencies, according to court filings obtained by TheWrap.

Simon has been one of the most outspoken opponents of the practice of packaging fees, in which agencies are paid a fee for packaging talent for a project. His blog and social media posts have echoed the WGA’s arguments that such fees are a conflict of interest and have contributed to the lack of rise in overscale writer pay in Hollywood. In the WGA lawsuit, he accused CAA of violating state and federal laws, including breach of fiduciary duty, by taking packaging fees on his show “Homicide: Life on the Streets.”

The filing announcing the dismissal offered no explanation for why Simon is dropping the claims, and lawyers for WGA and CAA did not immediately respond to TheWrap’s requests for comment. Other writers, including “Cold Case” creator Meredith Stiehm, still have individual claims against CAA, William Morris Endeavor, and United Talent Agency that accuse the agencies of violating their fiduciary duty and harming production of their projects by taking packaging fees.

The WGA initially filed their lawsuit against the top agencies back in April, days after thousands of members terminated their representation with agencies that did not adhere to the guild’s newly ratified Code of Conduct requiring them to eliminate packaging fees to represent writers. The agencies responded with a lawsuit of their own in June accusing the WGA of participating in an “unlawful boycott” through the mass termination.

In August, the WGA dropped their state lawsuit against the agencies and consolidated the claims into a federal lawsuit that added antitrust and RICO violations to the list of charges. The Guild is looking for a judge to declare that packaging fees are a violation of federal labor laws by standing as an illegal payment from an employer to a representative of an employee. The next court date between the two sides is set for December 6, when a judge will hear the WGA’s motion to dismiss the agency’s lawsuit.

Pamela Chelin contributed to this report.

23 TV Shows Most Affected by 2007-08 Writers' Strike (Photos)

With a potential writers strike looming if the WGA and AMPTP can't see eye to eye in their negotiations, TheWrap looks back at the 2007-2008 strike and its impact on TV shows.
"Breaking Bad"

The strike cost fans two episodes of the hit TV show's first season. Also, Hank Schrader was supposed to have been killed off but the writers strike prevented production from doing so.
AMC
"Lost"

"Lost" had just aired 8 episodes from it's fourth season when the strike began, and while it only had a month break, the season lost two episodes in total. They were added to season 5 and 6, respectively.
"Prison Break"

The third season of the show starring Wentworth Miller saw an extremely shortened third season, only having 13 episodes instead of 22.
Fox
"30 Rock"

Tina Fey's NBC sitcom only got to 10 episodes in its second season before breaking because of the strike. After a three month hiatus, 5 more episodes were films but it was still 7 episodes shorter than expected.
NBC
"Ugly Betty"

America Ferrera's ABC show went on hiatus for three months but also had to cut 5 episodes due to the strike.
ABC
"ER"

In its 14th run, the show also saw a shortened season.
"Dirty Sexy Money"

The show was put on halt on December 5, 2007 and returned in the fall of 2008. The last three episodes were pushed to the beginning of next season.
ABC
"Chuck"

The show stopped January 24, 2008 and resumed in the fall of 2008, and the season cut short.
"Private Practice"

The season was cut short and was postponed from December 2007 to fall 2008.
"The Big Bang Theory"

The CBS show was put on halt for four months the first season it was on air, and eventually only got to 17 of the planned 22 episodes.
CBS
"Bones"

The Fox show felt a blow from the writers strike in its third season, where it was put on hiatus for four months after only 13 out of 23 episodes were filmed. When the strike ended, only two more were filmed.
Fox
"Desperate Housewives"

The hit show also received a shortened season and a three-month break.
ABC
"Family Guy"

The fox animated series had 9 completed episodes before the strike began although 22 were planned. When the strike ended, only 3 more were produced.
Fox
"Friday Night Lights"

The second season of the show ended in a huge cliffhanger and seven of the 22 episodes NBC ordered weren't made. The third season returned eight month after the show had to be halted due to the strike.
NBC
"Gossip Girl"

The show starring Blake Lively and Leighton Meester also saw a three-month break due to the writers strike, as well as a shorter-than-expected season.
CW
"Grey's Anatomy"

Only 16 of the 23 of the fourth season ordered by ABC were made due to the writers strike.
ABC
"Heroes"

"Heroes" pretty much derailed the second season due to the strike. It only had 11 episodes out of 24 air, and none were filmed after the strike ended. The show returned nine months later.
NBC
"House"

While "House" didn't see a huge gap between air dates, only 4 episodes were made after the strike, which made audiences lose 8 previously planned episodes in total.
Fox
"The Office"

The U.S. version of the sitcom missed 11 episodes due to the strike and saw five month break between seasons 4 and 5.
NBC
"One Tree Hill"

The show's fifth season missed out on four episodes because of the strike.
CW
"Scrubs"

According to Uproxx, Bill Lawrence was ready to end "Scrubs" after season 7, but then the strike happened and only 11 episodes were aired. The show then moved over to ABC and two episodes produced after the strike aired as part of the eighth season.
ABC
"The Unit"

The third season aired on Sept. 25, 2007 before the hiatus occurred after the 11th episode. The show returned five months later for the fourth and final season.
CBS
"Battlestar Galactica"

Only 11 out of 20 episodes were aired before the show was postponed.
Sci-Fi Channel

1 of 24

Shows like “Prison Break,” “Breaking Bad” and “Friday Night Lights” were just a few of the shows that saw a shortened season due to the 100-day strike

With a potential writers strike looming if the WGA and AMPTP can't see eye to eye in their negotiations, TheWrap looks back at the 2007-2008 strike and its impact on TV shows.

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David Simon Drops Individual Claims in WGA Lawsuit Against Agencies - thewrap

23 TV Shows Most Affected by 2007-08 Writers' Strike (Photos)