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MARTHA HART ATTEMPTED TO PREVENT CANADIAN RELEASE OF WWE'S HART FAMILY DOCUMENTARY, ROSS HART COMMENTS ON SUIT, WWE ATTORNEY DISCUSSES WHETHER PREVIOUS SETTLEMENT BARRED COMPANY FROM USING OWEN FOOTAGE

By Mike Johnson on 2010-06-23 15:33:11
Heath McCoy of the Vancouver Sun (and author of the great Pain & Passion book on Stampede Wrestling) had a long piece today on Martha Hart's lawsuit against WWE and Vince and Linda McMahon in regard to their usage of Owen Hart.

In the article, WWE's attorney Jerry McDevitt commented on Martha's claim that in 2000, the company agreed to no longer use Owen Hart's name and likeness, stating, "We own the copyright (to footage featuring Owen Hart) and we believe we’re fully within our rights under the contract to do exactly what we did," McDevitt said. The article noted that McDevitt "insists that there is no provision in the 2000 settlement agreemement" that would have led to WWE giving up its rights to Owen footage.

Interesting to note that McDevitt (who stated yesterday that the company had not heard from Martha Hart since 2000) commented to the Sun that several months back, Hart filed an injunction to try and prevent the Canadian release of the Hart & Soul WWE documentary and DVD set on the Hart wrestling family. The article notes that Ontario court denied Hart's request.

Ross Hart, Owen's brother, commented on the suit in the piece as well, noting, ""If (WWE) exploited (Owen’s) name negatively . . . I can understand, but this really was a documentary about the whole family. It was done in pretty good taste, even by WWE standards." He also noted that wrestling was what made Owen famous and that his death shouldn't tarnish his legacy.

McDevitt agreed with that stance, noting that Hart was a public figure, commenting, "His death was widely reported. (Martha) wrote a book about it. Everybody that Owen’s life touched has their right to tell their version of the Owen Hart story, and he’s a part of the WWE’s history."

To read the complete article, click here.

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