Ryan Kavanaugh hasn’t come out with any more dough in his pocket, but Relativity gained a bit of financial traction today in the company’s ongoing skirmish with Netflix. A U.S. Bankruptcy Court judge Wednesday ordered the streaming service to pay more than $800,000 in legal fees and expenses to the embattled film studio.
“The Court holds that Relativity is entitled to an award of attorneys’ fees and expenses as to Relativity’s own counsel, but that Mr. Kavanaugh and Relativity are not entitled to reimbursement of fees and expenses incurred by Mr. Kavanaugh’s counsel,” said the memorandum opinion (read it here) from Judge Michael Wiles made public today.
“The Court also holds that the amount that Netflix is obligated to pay to Relativity is $818,547.48, consisting of $795,732.50 in reasonable attorneys’ fees and $22,814.98 in litigation expenses,” reads the 39-page document from Wiles, who handled Relativity’s Chapter 11 bankruptcy case. “This award is without prejudice to further applications to recover fees and expenses incurred in connection with Netflix’s appeals from this Court’s Order and Injunction.”
Netflix did not respond to requests for comment.
The sure-to-be appealed, relatively small award for the Kavanaugh-founded company stems from Netflix and Relativity’s yearlong-plus dispute over Relativity’s intent to distribute films like The Disappointments Room and Masterminds theatrically before they went online.
